Two Months!

 Happy Two Month Birthday, Clayton!

This will be a long letter because you have changed so much in the past month! Every day it seems as if you are bigger, or are learning more things and in turn teaching us new things! You still are the most amazing baby ever. You still hardly ever cry. Seriously. I think you might cry about a total of 1 minute every day, at the most. Usually the only time you cry is when we are feeding you and we stop feeding you to burp you in the middle of the bottle. Sometimes you'll cry when you know you're alone. I am not sure how you know, but you really do! Mommy left the tv on once and left the room and you still managed to know you were by yourself and started crying. It was short though! As soon as you saw Mommy you stopped crying instantly! Other than the short little cries your preferred method of communication is still grunting! You crack us up! We were hoping that you would be cooing by now, but it seems as if you are perfectly happy with your grunts!

This has truly been a month of discovery for you. You have discovered your hands and your tongue! You love to stare at your hands and are trying to figure out just what they are good for! You haven't quite figured them out yet and sometimes you get worked up and they get to really moving! Occasionally you will bonk yourself in the face with one hand if it slips from the other! You still aren't sure how to coordinate them to grab onto your toys, but this morning, on your two month birthday, you grabbed a toy on your swing! Mommy was so impressed! You and your tongue are really funny! You will lick the water when it is poured over your face in the bath! Sometimes you just start sticking your tongue out in anticipation of the water! One day Mommy recorded you playing with your hands and sticking your tongue in and out. It was really funny and captured your new discoveries so well!

You are becoming so more alert now and are really starting to figure out this world! You will turn towards our voices when we talk to you, and you make great eye contact. The best thing too is that you now smile in response to things! It is WONDERFUL. We love your smile SO much! It is so beautiful! You are such a happy baby! You smiled for the first time right after turning one month old. You had started to smile somewhat for Mommy and Daddy at home, but it still wasn't quite in response to something that we said or did. However, one day at work, your Pop asked you if you wanted to "go ride in the back of the pickup" and you apparently thought that was hilarious and burst out into a big grin! Pop and Gia were thrilled to catch this big 'ole smile. Ever since you have smiled non-stop to all kinds of goofy things that we say! You are staying awake so much longer during the day now, so we are able to catch more and more smiles! You stay awake so often that when we were trying to take your newborn photos you wouldn't go to sleep, so we had to postpone! Silly boy!

You had a lot of "firsts" this month! We took you on your first overnight trip and you were such a trooper! We went to Lubbock for Evan's graduation and Liliana's 1st Birthday party! You were such a good baby! Mommy thought it would be hard to travel with you overnight, but you proved that you are super easy! You are SUCH a good traveler! We stick you in your car seat and you almost instantly go to sleep. If you don't then you just entertain yourself. You have NEVER cried in your car seat. A few times you fussed because your pacifier fell out of your mouth, but that was an easy fix! Thank you so much for being a good baby in your car seat.. you have no idea how much easier that makes our lives!!!

Another first was that you got to swim in a pool for the first time! Mommy and Daddy were in San Angelo for Sarah's Birthday party and her parents had a nice big pool! It was 110 degrees outside so we thought it was a good time to let you swim! Daddy took you in and dipped your legs in. At first you thought it was too cold but then after another dip you didn't mind at all! You didn't cry at all! We didn't put you in all of the way because we didn't have a swimsuit for you and your diaper was getting super heavy! ;-) We know that this summer we will have more opportunities to put you in a pool! We didn't doubt that you'd like the water since you like your bath so much!

Some other great things that happened this month were that you started to sleep longer at night, and now know that when you are put in your cradle that it means it is time for bed. Mommy usually feeds you and puts you down around 11 and then you will sleep until around 4 or 5. One night you went 7 hours!!! Now, Mommy must admit, I woke up and checked to make sure you were still breathing! After all, you had never slept that long without waking up to eat! Mommy worries when you do things amazing like that! It is a lot better now that you only get up once in the middle of the night. Now Mommy can get a little more sleep! Once you wake up to eat you normally get to sleep the rest of the night in Mommy & Daddy's bed though... Mommy likes to cheat and knows that you go to sleep super fast when you're in bed with us, so I stick you there and you go right back to sleep, meaning Mommy can go right back to sleep. I promise to not make a habit of it though... or will try not to!

Other news.. You can now hold your head up so well on your own. We will sit you on our knees and you will just stare and smile at us. You also sat in your bumbo chair for about a minute one night, but then were tired. You can raise your head so high on your own! You are even starting to be able to bear weight on your legs when we stand you up. Pop said today that you are such a big boy now because you can do all of this!

You're still great at tooting and burping! You are a true boy! I mentioned to Daddy one day that it would be so strange to us if it were our little girl doing all of these gassy movements, but when you do it, our little stinker, it is funny! However, you are still not very good at pooping! Poor baby! We had to take you to your first unscheduled doctors appointment because you had gone 6 days without a bowel movement. Mommy called the doctor after 2 days, and they told us to wait until 6!! It nearly killed us to wait that long while you were struggling. The doctor had us give you some suppositories and some tummy medicine. They mostly helped but you are still struggling. At your next doctors visit we will figure out what is going on! The doctor also had us switch to a soy based formula, so now you are only getting formula. I was sad to not breastfeed you anymore, but it has been much easier and you have been a happy baby.

We can definitely tell you are getting enough to eat now! You are getting the cutest little fat rolls on your legs and your cheeks, if you can believe it, are even chubbier now! You are so cute!!! Mommy weighed you at home and you were 11 pounds 2 ounces! We'll see what the doctor says tomorrow! Sounds like a good weight to us! We finally moved you up to exclusively 0-3 month clothing this past week. Mommy laid out your PJ's last night and Daddy thought they were too big... but nope, they fit just right! Daddy was sad that you didn't fit into your newborn PJ's anymore. You're growing so fast! It was very sad for Mommy to pack up your newborn clothes already! You're still in a size 1 diaper and they should fit for a while longer. (Hopefully so because Mommy just bought a bunch on amazon for a good price.. hehe!)

All month you have been going with Mommy and Daddy to work. You have been such a good baby! Everyone loves seeing you everyday. When Pop and Gia don't get to see you for more than a day they are super sad! You bring such joy to everyone at the office! We are still getting work done... just get to take a few more breaks now to play with you!

One more problem area has been your neck. You seem to always lean and look to the left (your right). Mommy was slightly worried about this but we're going to talk to the pediatrician and see if there is anything we need to do to help you fix that! A slight problem too has been your paci addiction. hehe... After Mommy really didn't want to give you a pacifier, I did anyway, and now... you want it! You still are a good baby and don't have to have it all day every day, but you sure do relax when you have it! You could be super tense  from tummy pains and we'll give you the paci and you instantly relax! It's kind of funny! We sure hope that you are easy to wean from the paci though, because we don't want you going to kindergarten with it! ;-)

I don't know if I have mentioned your Reveille mobile or not, but that thing is magical! If you are even slightly fussy we can lay you in your crib and turn that on and you just chill and watch the mobile! We think it is because it is Texas A&M related and it plays the War Hymn... you're a great Aggie already! You like all music, really. You love listening to Daddy and Pop play their guitars, and love when Mommy puts music on in the office or in the car.

Gia brought out Daddy's baby book and we looked at pictures of him and you when you were both babies.... You look JUST like Daddy. Same hair, same face, same everything! Don't worry, it's a good thing... your Daddy is super handsome! It's neat to see how much you look like him. Now we know you will be cute as you grow! Like we had any doubts!

The other day when we were driving home your Daddy said that we were so lucky to have you as a baby... for the fact that you are such a good baby, and for just having you in our lives. We feel so incredibly blessed to be your parents. You are such a joy! We prayed so long for you, and we know that God was smiling on us when he brought us you. We can't wait to teach you all about God. He is so amazing and works in such mysterious ways!

We love you, Clayton. You are truly a blessing and the light of our lives.

Love,
Mommy

Our first overnight trip, and more!

This past weekend we headed up to Lubbock to watch our friend Evan become Dr. Evan, and to attend Liliana's 1st Birthday party! It was such a great weekend, but a little sad since they are now moving to Little Rock for Evan's Urology Residency. We are going to miss having them only a short drive away! Anyway... you should have seen me packing on Thursday night. It was quite amusing. This was our first overnight trip with Clayton, so you can imagine I packed everything but the kitchen sink! I mean, we were staying in a big town and all... it's not like it would have been the end of the world if I forgot something! ;-) I packed two diaper bags, a big duffle bag for myself and Darren, the pack n play, stroller, formula and 6 bottles, bathing necessities just in case, 5 outfits for Clayton, and then all of the things we were bringing to the party/graduation. The pickup was loaded down! Did I mention this was a one night trip? We were gone for just over 24 hours! hehe...

The graduation was Friday afternoon and even after Clayton had been in his car-seat all morning he was an amazing baby. We even had strangers come up to us after graduation was over and compliment us on what a great baby he was. We know! ;-) Evan was hooded as Dr. Evan Lacefield by his amazing wife, Cristina! She had the privilege of hooding him since she has her JD. After graduation we all went to Ruby Tequilas and had an amazing fajita dinner and spent time talking and congratulating Evan! Clayton was a hit, especially with the Grandma's! =) He was so happy to be passed around and snuggled! After the party we headed back to Uncle Trey and Aunt Leslie's house so they could have some time with Clayton and so we could get some shut-eye!

Saturday morning we got up and went to Cristina & Evan's house for Liliana's First Birthday party!! I still can't believe that she is already a year old! Liliana looked beautiful and super cute as always! She was so good while opening her presents! Then it was time for the smash cake! Her party was cupcake themed so Cristina and Evan's mom had made Liliana a giant cupcake to smash. She tore into it! It was pretty funny! I think she wanted to eat the whole thing! Clayton slept through the excitement.. go figure! But, he was mentally preparing himself for his own 1 year birthday which is in 10 short months! (At the rate that time is flying by right now I am already preparing myself for this occasion!). For Liliana's present I had made her a book on shutterfly with pictures from her first year of life. It was a big hit! I had 4 more orders from people wanting copies! I should start a business! ;-) We also gave her an A&M dress and I told Darren I was going to buy myself one just in case we ever had a girl because I thought it was so cute! We had a great little trip but it was sad to leave Cristina, Evan, and Liliana. We'll be visiting soon though! We must!

Other than traveling a bunch, we've been watching Clayton grow like a weed! He's going to be 2 months old in 6 days! OMG! He is filling our lives with such joy. He smiles at us so often! We are going to do his baptism in June, so this weekend we have to go through the baptismal classes for sponsors and parents. His godparents are going to be Uncle Trey and Aunt Leslie! Lucky kid! Nana (my mom) is going to come visit for the baptism, so we can't wait!!!

This summer is going to be very busy for us, but after our "trial run" of traveling this weekend, we are confident that it will be a great summer! Here's a small glimpse of what's on our plate: San Antonio, Ruidoso, Las Vegas/Kingman/Flagstaff, Dallas, Little Rock! Whew!!!!

Oh, a side note.. please pray for rain. It has been so horribly dry here and windy. The wildfires have been out of control. Last week Darren was gone for over 10 hours fighting a huge fire at the county line. I love that he is a volunteer firefighter, but it also scares the crap out of me! So, pray for rain! =)

Just call me Mrs. Multi-tasker...

I have to toot my own horn here for a little bit. I feel really accomplished! This semester I managed to accomplish the following: Work full time (often 40+ hours), Teach CCD classes (an hour plus every week), Grow a baby, HAVE a baby, and complete 3 hours of my graduate degree. All of this and I STILL managed to get an A in my class! I am so pumped! This course was terrible. I took a course called Program Evaluation and basically it was a research class on how evaluations are done and why. It was so boring, not to mention since it was online I had to read the book and teach myself everything. We had a major project that spanned the entire semester. One of the deadlines was the day before Clayton was born. So, yes, I was BUSY. I am excited because I feel like I know I can handle grad school and having Clayton now. I know that I may be a little crazy at times to think that I can get all of this done, and I do realize the stress that it puts on my life. Grad school has been a major goal of mine and I am so glad that I am getting the opportunity to meet this goal. I couldn't have done any of this though without my wonderful husband and all of his help.

Right now I happen to be watching tv, blogging, and rocking Clayton all at the same time. Hehe.. multi-task much? ;-)

6 weeks already!

Yesterday marked 6 weeks since our little boy made his appearance into this world! Time is seriously, SERIOUSLY, flying by! He is changing daily and it is so much fun to watch him grow. I feel so blessed that he is able to come to work with me or else I'd feel like I was missing all of these changes! He is now smiling a lot and awake for longer periods of time. It's a little challenging to entertain him, since he still can't play with toys, but for the most part it's not been too hard! I wish my mom were still here though to see all of this new personality that he is sharing with us. I miss her!!!

At 6 weeks postpartum you go back for a checkup to make sure that you healed, you know, down there... and to make sure your cervix/uterus are back to normal. My appointment went well and I got the clean bill of health from Carylon! Of course little Clayton had to come with me so that everyone could see him and so Carylon could get a little time with him!

I've still been struggling with breastfeeding. I get frustrated with my supply, which makes me not even want to pump as much as I should. It's a double edged sword for sure because as I feed him more formula, my supply keeps decreasing. I need to be pumping every two hours and drinking myself silly (water people, water!), but I just haven't yet. I get sad when I think about not being able to give him breastmilk, but then I don't do anything about it... what the heck?! I came to this realization the other day... my body seriously does not know how to be a mother. It took medicine to get me pregnant. It took medicine to get me un-pregnant. And now I can barely breastfeed. What is going on?! I pray that my body has realized how to handle all of these things and that it all goes better with our next child.

In other news, we're trying to nail down a date for Clayton's baptism. It's been difficult because we're about to play "priest roulette". Our priest, Father Francis, has been gone learning Spanish in some South American country for the past 6 months. When he returns he will only be here for less than a month before they are shipping him off to another parish. Father Q, who we have had since Father Francis left, will only be here a short while longer before they are shipping him off. I would love for Father Francis to get to do the baptism, as he baptized me and married us! However, I also really like Father Q! I just really would not like a stranger to baptize him. I know it really doesn't matter but I just feel as if it would be better to know the priest. Hopefully we can get a date soon! My mom is going to get to come back to visit when he is baptized, so the sooner the better! =)

6 weeks.... It all is happening so fast. It feels like my pregnancy dragged on, and now that he is here time is just flying! It's true when they tell you to cherish every moment of every day!!!

My First Mother's Day

Yesterday I celebrated my first Mother's Day with my husband and son. I feel so incredibly blessed to have been given the gift of being a mother. I couldn't help but remember all day how I felt this time last year. I remember how my heart ached because I was not a mother yet. I remember praying that I would become a mother, and now my prayers have been answered and I have a beautiful, sweet, wonderful baby boy.

After church with my son and our eternal mother, Mary!

My day was interesting to say the least! Darren was super sweet and bought me a Willow Tree statue that is called "Our Gift", which is of a mom, dad, and their new baby. He also gave me a very sweet card with the most loving words written inside. I also received a card from my brothers and their girlfriends that had a "New Mom" pin attached to the front. I admit, I teared up a little when I opened the card from them! It was so sweet of them to think of me! We got up and got ready for church first thing. Once we got to church our day turned.. well... read on. We parked and I got out first, trying to open the back door to get the diaper bag out. Darren was still getting out of the front so I knocked and told him to unlock the back. He hit the button, threw the keys back in the seat (since we don't ever need to lock our vehicle out in GC), then shut his door. Well..... the back door was not unlocked, and he had in fact hit the lock button. Our keys were now locked in the car. And that's not the worst of it... Clayton was still in his car seat in the back. Cue panic attack! Darren called our deputy (One of the many benefits of living in a small town is that we know all law enforcement!). Scott literally hauled butt out there to us since Darren told him that Clayton was still in the car. He made it in less than 10 minutes to St. Lawrence and was able to get the jeep unlocked in about a minute. Hooray! Clayton was happily sitting in his car seat, looking around. =) What a good baby! SOOO, we were a tad late to church but still enjoyed the service. At the end of the mass they had all of the mothers come up for a special blessing and to receive a rose. It was so nice to get to go up there! After church we went to the in-laws house for some lunch. Another interesting moment... Somehow the grill started fire and our food was charred. It was still edible but it was a little scary for a second because the flames were so high! We enjoyed our meal over there and spending time with Darren's parents. We then came home and were lazy and lounged around our house. Poor Clayton was still not pooping as of yesterday so was slightly fussier than normal. Regardless he was still cute and smiled at me a few times which made the day even better!

All in all it really was a great day... more so for the fact that I am a mother now. I really don't care about the presents and what not.. it was just so nice to spend the day with those that I love the most! I wish my mom was still here to celebrate with her though!

Speaking of those that I love the most... I have the best mom and mother in law in the whole world. They really are. Both of them are amazing mothers and are so loving. They are such great role models for me, and I hope to be half as great a mother as they are.

Love this photo!

 I can't wait to celebrate Mother's Day for years to come. I know that each year I will remember how truly blessed I am. I continue to pray for all of those out there who are still waiting to become a mother. I hope all of your mothers had a wonderful day! Count your blessings!

One Month

Happy One Month Birthday, Clayton!

We can't believe that you have already been in our lives for a whole month now! It seems like just yesterday we were pacing back and forth, waiting for contractions to start! You have changed so much in the past month, yet you are still the same gorgeous baby. You light up our lives, and I know that sounds cheesy, but you really do!

Let's see what your first month held... Well, of course, you were brought home from the hospital to our house - a major achievement! You had your first doctors appointment and were right on the growth chart for both height and weight. As the doctor said, you were perfectly normal! We were worried about your bili levels at first, but luckily they went down and you did not have to spend any time under the lights! We gave you your first bath, which you did not like! However, once we figured out that you just don't want to be cold, you haven't cried since! Now you enjoy bath time! You try to roll over when you're on your tummy, but your arms aren't quite strong enough yet so you don't make it all of the way. You do however manage to squirm around so much in your crib or cradle that you are turned about 45 degrees from the position we put you in when we go to pick you up, so you are definitely strong!

You are really a good baby. You hardly every cry, which makes Mommy and Daddy super happy! We've only ever heard you cry a few times, and even then it is only for less than a minute. We are very blessed! You are finally starting to eat every 4 to 5 hours. At the beginning you would only go about every 2 hours. You are still breastfeeding, but we also supplement with formula. This helps your tummy and helps you sleep better at night. You are starting to stay awake for longer periods during the day and we love to interact with you. You stare into our eyes and make all of your little grunting noises.

You think you're a lot older than you are because you held your head on your own at about 4 days old, and have moved it pretty well ever since. When we lay you on our chests you can lift your head and look around, then put it down gently. You also try to crawl off of us when you're on our chests. That is your favorite position to lay in. You love to snuggle on someones chest... usually Daddy's! You're a great baby too because you take a pacifier, but you don't have to always have it. Mommy was reluctant to give you your paci at first, but figured it was easier to take the paci away then your fingers... which, by the way, you found your thumb and sucked on it at 4 days old!

You were soooo blessed to have had your Nana stay with us all month. You love your Nana very much! She always knows what to do when your tummy hurts, and she sings you the best songs! You had so many visitors this month because everyone wanted to come see you! You're pretty special, seeing as you are the first grandbaby for both sets of grandparents! Your Pop and Gia come over just about every other day to visit you and you always love time with them!

Growth wise you are still wearing newborn clothes, but can fit into some 0-3 sized clothes. You are just about to outgrow the newborn sized diapers, but the size 1 are still pretty dang big on you, so we're not quite sure what to do! You definitely know how to go through the diapers!! Mommy and Daddy have finally figured out how to efficiently change you, so you no longer pee all over us and our bedspread!

You still get the hiccups at least twice a day. You had them all of the time in Mommy's tummy, so we were not surprised! Most of the time you don't mind them, but every once in a while they will make you mad. But, like I said, you don't cry very often, so it is mostly just more grunts!

Speaking of grunting noises (as I listen to you make them right now), you make them all of the time! Even in your sleep. Mommy had to learn that you were not always awake when you made the noises! You are sleeping in our room right now because your room is upstairs. We thought you would not ever sleep in your cradle because you don't like laying flat (thank you gassy tummy), but we made a little wedge out of blankets and now you don't mind sleeping there! You did sleep in your bouncer for about a week because Mommy did not know what to do anymore! Sorry!

You bring so much joy into our lives and we cannot even remember what life was like without you! Ok, maybe that is a lie! But, our lives are so much better now that you are here! We love you so much and can't wait to watch you grow! Your future mother-in-law, Cristina, is writing letters to your future bride, Liliana, so that is where Mommy got the idea to write to you! Now you will have a great documented memory of your life!!

Love,
Mommy