Nicolas {ONE}

 Last year at this time I was still enjoying the honeymoon postpartum period. Many people struggle immensely in those first few weeks, but I've always been blessed that despite recoveries that are no walk in the park, most of my post part experiences have been enjoyable and normal. Mom was here keeping the whole house running, my sisters-in-law and Mom-in-law were lovingly caring for the older kids so I could focus on the baby and recovering and meals, treats and gifts were flooding in from friends. Pretty much all I did was hold Nicolas and rest, something I've become an expert in after regretting doing too much after Brooklynne was born.

 Fast forward to now. An entire year of firsts have already come and gone--cooing, reaching for toys, sleeping through the night, scooting, new teeth, crawling, pulling up on furniture, and now babbling constantly and even saying several words. Even though I guess he's technically not a "toddler" because he's not walking, he acts like it. He is extremely responsive to everyone--my little social butterfly. His favorite word is "hiiii" and he says it to just about everyone. 

 He says uh oh, more, all done, love you, and the names of all his family members. Nate and I look at each other in surprise every time he says a new thing because he just seems so little to be saying so much! I guess that's what happens when you have 3 older siblings talking to you constantly!

  

 I've learned more and more how to truly cherish my babies. The Babywise book, while full of great principles, robbed me of truly enjoying Brooklynne and is way to strict in my opinion. Now I don't worry about spoiling them, because really you can't spoil a baby! But holding and hugging and cuddling as much as I can in those first few months doesn't last long as they grow bigger and become more independent like he is now. It goes so fast, and I try my hardest not to miss any of it.

It's amazing how one year of newness and bringing us hoards of joy, culminates into one piece of cake--or in this case, a cupcake. It's the great American (?) tradition. Every baby I've ever known has been surrounded with family--if not a huge crowd--while everyone watches to see what they will do with being allowed to consume a huge amount of sugar. My fourth baby did not disappoint, as he knew exactly what was expected of him. haha!

Happy first birthday to our dear Nicolas Jay. You are the light of our home right now and the center of attention and we love you so hard!

Nicolas Jay: 8 Months

Nicolas is 8 months old now, really 8 1/2, and sooo much is changing with him I had to do a quick post on what is going on in his life right now.

 I gave up baby books in 2009. ha. So really this is an online baby book for me. Feel free to read along if you wish. :)

He is FIN-A-LLY sleeping through the night (for a month or so now). He started waking up again, so I've let him cry 2-3 nights over the past few weeks but he does great now. 10-11 hours solid, and I'm looking forward to when 12 hours becomes a part of our lives.

 I've noticed a huge change in the solid food area of his life this month. He has cut way down on nursing (not sure how I feel about that) and loves to eat real food. Bread ranks his #1 favorite right now, followed by bananas, sweet potatoes and carrots. This week he tried pizza and was a huge fan. He really eats everything at this point and feeds himself really well! The baby-led weaning style of eating has been so much easier than the way I fed my other kids. I love it!

He's been rocking on his knees and standing on all fours for a few months now, but he won't actually crawl more than a few times before back into scooting where he gets all over the place fast. His favorite place to be is under the kitchen table. :) He loves to pull himself up to standing if the object to pull himself up on is low enough, and then he gets pretty proud of himself.

His eyes are still very blue with no signs of changing yet. My other kids had blue eyes this long, but they were changing at this point so I'm wondering if he'll keep the bright blue?

 And speaking of eyes, he was diagnosed with stribismus, which is the fancy term for wandering eye (or lazy eye). Since it was caught so young (his 6 month well visit) it's not gotten too bad yet and his vision is still fine. He wears a patch on his good eye for 1 hour a day and it is the cutest thing I have ever seen! It really doesn't seem to bother him at all. We go for another check up in a few weeks to see if we can cut down to every other day depending on how his muscles are strengthened through this month. I had a list of several pediatric orthopedic Doctors and chose one at random. I was super impressed with him and his office. Later, a friend with a son who has the same problem told me he was the best in our city! I love how the Lord works out little things like that.

His looks are changing quite a bit, but he is still twinnies with Brooke, which she loves.

Phone captures over the past few weeks...

 Happy crawler

First day with his patch

Standing at the couch and tickling big brother's foot ;)

His second fever in just 3 weeks... we all had a day like this yesterday. I think it's teething, because besides being fussy and warm, he has no other symptoms. I do garlic drops in his ears just in case it's that.

I couldn't end on that note, so here's one more of my little guy who is happy 99.9% of the time. ;)

Happy Friday, friends! Have a great weekend!

Nicolas Tries Food (Baby-Led Weaning)

It doesn't matter what number baby you are--new milestones are a big deal. Probably an even bigger deal when you have older siblings to squeal excitedly over every little new thing you accomplish. Since Nicolas is 6 months old, I decided to start giving him some solids this week and it was so much fun. I'm giving baby-led weaning a go, and was amazed at how well he chewed and swallowed without choking! Babies at this age still get 100% of their nutrition from milk, so at this point it's just exploring and learning the hand and eye coordination to feed themselves. He puts everything in his mouth at this point, so that was a good indication that he was ready to start.

The older kids were super excited to help with this exciting event!

Their faces when trying something new are always priceless! And yes, he was chewing chunks this big, even though a lot of it came out of his mouth. Their chewing/swallowing is completely developed at this age--apparently, they learn it from sucking. Amazing! He loved to play with it and look at it, which "they" say is their way of learning and exploring new foods. 

The banana pieces were too slippery, so this was his preferred method of choice ;). I've since learned that you can give it to them right in the peel with some of it cut off. That worked much better because he had something big to grip and hold.

This is his, "OK Mom, shows over. Can I go to bed now?" face

Based on just a few days of experience (ha), I highly recommend this method of feeding! Of course, do your own research, and the book (which I borrowed from a friend-thanks, Amy!) was very helpful as well! Nicolas doesn't have any teeth yet, so I feel comfortable with only giving him soft foods for now, and I'm excited about the fact that I don't have to sit and feed him. He will participate right in our family meals all on his own!
 I won't bore you by making you listen to me lament about the fact that he is so old, (6 months is such a milestone!) so I'll end there.
 Have a great rest of your week, friends!

Four-in-One

I am way behind in blogging, but I've found a little time right now so I figured I would catch up from the last month or so! Here's 4 posts in 1...

ONE MONTH

 Nicolas was one month here, and I thought it would be fun to do a monthly picture on my chair to see how he grows over time. As you can see we were dealing with a lot of baby acne and skin troubles then which thankfully has gone away now (he's almost 2 months!). At his 6 week check up he was 10 pounds, which was surprising as he looked a lot smaller but he's long limbed as they said. He was still eating quite often during the night and Mommy had some very emotional days that mainly stemmed from the exhaustion. My tip to all Moms that can't "sleep when baby sleeps" because of other kids--hang in there! After about 6 weeks or so it got much better and I actually am feeling human again!

 I think I've said it a lot, but Nick is really such a great baby. Happy and content when he's awake and only fusses if he's hungry, needs to be changed or tired. He is the center of attention in this house!

5 YEARS OLD

 On September 22nd, my sweet Joe turned 5 years old. I can hardly believe it--5 is a big one! Unfortunately I got a really bad stomach flu, but daddy came through and made him mac and cheese for dinner and put together his strawberry ice cream cake, complete with homemade graham crackers crust!

 Joe has been such a sweet big brother and helper to me now that Brooke is at school all day. He is sweet and sensitive, very obedient and loves to help and calm the baby down if he's fussy. Joe loves to compliment and hug--he is going to make a lady feel very special some day. ;) He loves to tell me I looks beautiful and give me a huge hug, and he always says the sweetest things to his Aunts when he Facetime's them. He is very curious and inquisitive about spiritual things and I really think that he'll get saved soon. 

THE BIKE RODEO

 A few weeks ago was church's annual bike rodeo. The kids were so excited--it's definitely a highlight of their year! They love dressing up and look so forward to all the activities that the day entails. I mainly look forward to the cute photo op ;).

My gorgeous brother and sister-in-laws family! They go all out and looked SO cute!

AROUND THE HOUSE

 See what I mean about him being so sweet? I can't even handle it sometimes. I have to pick my heart up off the puddle on the floor.

He is doing so well in school! His writing, reading and spelling have all improved immensely. I'm so proud of him, because he works really hard!

At the slightest hint of fall weather, I'm all, get all the hats and hoodies and boots. They are totally unnecessary but who cares? It looks adorable.

Speaking of puddles...

 We potty trained this week.

 It did not go well.

 After day 5, he is back in diapers. Oh yes he is.

 We'll try again next week.

And speaking of next week, it's that time of year again: FAMILY! The first of them arrive in a few days and I cannot wait. It's also the busy season for me with photography, so I can't promise many posts in the coming weeks, but I'll try. ;)

Our Village

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and boy do I have the best village. After I had Nicolas, it was reaffirmed to me again just how many friends and family we have, surrounding us with love and support. Of course my Mom was here taking care of everything at home, while my in-laws watched the kids for us for a few days and my sister-in-law took them the next week for another little extra break. Friends brought over delicious, home cooked meals, presents for the baby and me, specialty drinks, homemade baked goods, take out lunches and I was constantly receiving texts. “Congratulations, he is beautiful!” “How are you feeling?” “How is the baby?” “We miss you!” “Can’t wait to meet him!”

 Even a month later, I’m still feeling the extra love as friends offer to bring Brooke home from school, ask if I need anything and we even received another meal the other day, just because. Now that I’m out an about more, everyone always asks how I’m feeling and how we are adjusting. Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more loved in all of my life. Our village is full of the most caring souls on the planet and it makes the page to the new chapter of our lives turn a whole lot smoother than it would have had we been alone.

 We are so very blessed.

Quick photo dump from the past few weeks:

Hands near mouth, always

"The boys"

Baby blues

He has been such a good baby for us--happy, peaceful and content for the most part ;)

Before my Mom left, we celebrated Joe's birthday a little early. She made ice cream sandwhiches with him and gave him his presents.

I know I'm a little biased, but does he not have the perfect face?!

I'm curious what color his hair will end up being...

No words needed. She's my hero and my kids adore her.

She's adjusting great to going to school every day, and we are settling into our new routine. The first week was really rough on me, not gonna lie, but it was definitely the best decision for us right now and I'm adjusting!

Leaving you with baby toes.

 Happy Friday!

P.S. We have our yearly anniversary Sunday coming up this weekend, and we are praying for many souls to be saved. Please pray with us, would you?

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!