8 Months

I can't believe I am saying this, but can we please slow down time?! I feel like Andrew's baby days are slipping right by! It's crazy because the first few months are so hard for me and all I do is wish he were just a little older so things would be a little easier. And now all of a sudden he is 8 months old and it feels like we are already talking about his 1st birthday! Brad and I have already decided we are done after 2 kids, but I do feel sad that there will be no more babies! 

Andrew is doing great and life has been pretty good. He is sort of crawling. He takes a few motions forward, then faceplants and scoots. Then he gets on all fours and does it again. He is so close! He has also started pulling himself up on things, but he isn't quite sturdy enough yet to stand. He is still really happy most of the time. We went out to dinner tonight with my sister and family, something we hardly attempt anymore with the kids. I was nervous because Andrew hadn't napped well today, but both boys did great! We also went to a cider mill this morning, though it was cold and started to rain so it was a bust. But it has been fun to start to really do things as a family of four!

Last weekend we went to the Zoo Boo and then the boys stayed the night at my parents so Brad and I could meet some friends for a night out. Andrew was pretty stuffy so didn't sleep well, but it was a fun night. John is so excited for Halloween this year, and it is fun to watch him get into it all. We are going to the huckleberry railroad next weekend with some friends and then have a Halloweeb party with our Parent Group on Sunday. John will be so excited.

At 8 months, Andrew hasn't changed much in terms of eating and sleeping. Still going to bed around 7:30 and waking up between 4-6 to eat and then sleeps until 7:30 or so. On school days we wake him up at 6:30. He is still doing well at Miss Kim's house and we are so happy we made the switch! 

He loves watching his big brother. John loves to climb in Andrew's crib to wake him up, and it is the cutest thing ever. Andrew gets the biggest grin on his face and John is so sweet talking to him and rubbing his back. He really is a great big brother and I am so proud of him.

John and Andrew passed around a nasty stomach bug earlier this month. Andrew ran a temp starting on a Wednesday and so Brad took the day off. By Friday, Andrew still had a low grade fever so I took the day off. Brad was going on his annual guys fishing trip, so I took John to school and Andrew and I came home and took a nap. I didn't realize I had my phone on silent and woke up to messages from John's preschool teacher saying he was throwing up and had a fever. I felt like the worst mother in the world. Luckily it hasn't even too long. But poor John was so miserable and couldn't keep anything down for about 24 hours. Luckily my mom came and spent the weekend with us to help out. I don't know what I would have done without her! Thanks mom!!! 

We have another busy month coming up. I can't believe Thanksgiving and the holidays will be here before we know it! I love the fall. Working 1/2 time has been so amazing too, I know I say that every month, but I am so much happier! I love my time with the boys. I have started going to a bible study with my sister in Tuesday mornings. They have an awesome kids program, so John and Andrew and my niece Josie go too. John loves it so far. It's neat to see him interact in that way. It has also been great for me and my sister to get to spend some time together and strengthen our faith together. 

Anyways, here are some pictures from the month. Hope everyone is having a good fall! Xo

7 Months!

I just am so in love with this little guy. This past month has been huge in terms of his little personality shining. He is generally such a happy boy and his mouth is ALWAYS open! So cute! He loves John and smiles so much everytime he sees him. 

This past month has been busy with getting back to work and getting into our new routine of me working only 1/2 time. I feel so lucky to be able to have the work schedule that I do. It has been my dream and I am so, so grateful it has all worked out! Andrew started his new daycare, but unfortunately we didn't have a great experience. Not anything major to write, but a lot of little things that they didn't do that John's old infant room did do. We were so spoiled with Ms. Shelly and her care and love for John. So, I had to follow my gut and we took him out after 2 weeks. However, everything else fell into place, because we found a wonderful woman who lives near us that runs an in home daycare and she just happened to have a part time opening that fit my schedule. It was meant to be and we couldn't be happer about the switch! He seems to really like there and he naps so well there too, which is a bonus!

This last month Brad and John headed to Indiana for a weekend and Andrew and I stayed behind. Our weekends have been busy with various events, and the weather has been amazing. My sister was in the hospital for the last 3 weeks of the summer and is now at home after surgery in a wheelchair. It has been an adjustment for her, but I am so proud of how well she is adapting and her attitude about it all. Hopefully in another month or so she can go back to using her walker. We had the ALSA walk last weekend and it was an incredible turnout. Makes me so grateful for the amazing family and friends we have. The support has been incredible, and much needed for all of us. I wish our family didn't have to go through this, but we are reminded every day how lucky we are to have so many people praying for us.

Andrew and John both did great at the walk! It is fun now taking Andrew to events and John is such a fun age where he gets so excited over everything! He has been doing so well in preschool. His teacher told me the other day how thoughtful and kind John is. I am so proud of him. 

Andrew is going to give john a run for his money soon though, because he is starting to rock on all fours, so I think he will be crawling soon! He has 7 teeth now (!) and is sleeping pretty good. He goes to bed by 8:00 and then will wake up anytime between 4-6 to eat and will then go back to bed. I am really ready for him to drop that early feeding, but it is still a lot better than waking up 4-5 times a night, so I shouldn't be complaining! He usually takes a 45-60 minute morning nap and a 2 hour nap in the late afternoon. 

He is loving finger foods like puffs, bananas, yogurt bites, and peas. He loves yogurt and fruit too and will eat his veggies, but usually without a lot of excitement! :) He is also getting a lot more hair all of a sudden, so his look is changing. So cute! 

He is actually sick right now. He woke up two nights ago with a temp. Brad stayed home with him on Wednesday and I am off today. He has has just a low grade fever today so we'll see if I need to take tomorrow off or not. Hopefully he feels better soon. He hasn't been his usually happy self. :( 

Well, here are some pics from the past month. Where is time going?!!

First day of school!

First day of preschool! 

Reading with Josie

Andrew had his 7 month (we missed 6 month!) pictures taken a few weeks ago. We got one of John with him too! I will post the rest soon! They turned out great! 

Six Months!

***Just realized I never published this from last month! Sorry Andrew! We were too busy having fun to worry about it! :)

August 18, 2014

Holy moly, 6 months already?!  Half of a year?!  Crazy how fast this time has gone!  Brad said the other day, "we really don't have much baby time left!" And that is so true! And so sad!  I know the newborn stage is hard for me, but it is crazy how fast it goes and you never get it back.  I am really trying to cherish these moments, even when it is 2am and he is crying.  :)

Andrew is such a sweet baby, and I am just having the best summer with him and John.  I am sad it is almost over, but thrilled to only be working half time next year.  I feel so lucky.  It is going to be amazing to spend more time with them. I am already getting sad thinking about John being in kindergarten and that is over a year away!  So happy to have some extra time with them this year.  

At six months Andrew is 18 pounds, 3 ounces and 27.5 inches long! He seems like such a chunk to me, but he is actually smaller than John was at this age which is hard to believe. He has two teeth on the bottom and his top four teeth are right there!!!!

As for sleep, we are still waiting for that glorious day when we can say he is sleeping through the night! :) Our pediatrician wants us to try putting him in his crib awake so that he learns to put himself back to sleep. Right now he has been waking up every few hours and wants us to rock him and snuggle with him. So, tonight we will try it! 

Andrew loves to eat! He is really liking his fruits and veggies, and now we can start puffs and small finger foods! Exciting stuff! He still loves his jumper, his mat, and John and Allie. He loves watching both of them!

We have had a busy August. We went to the lake for the annual lake beach bash party and then Andrew had his first trip to Indiana! It was short, but it was fun to see everyone and introduce him to the Monhaut's at the family reunion. Crazy to think that next week I have to go back to work and Andrew will be starting at his new daycare!!!

He is such a sweet baby, I can't wait to watch him grow and develop his little personality! 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 

5 Months

5 months have come and gone!  Crazy how fast July has gone by!  We had a great month.  Super busy, but lots of fun!  Andrew's little personality is really starting to emerge, and I feel like he has changed so much just in the past few weeks. 

We started the month by celebrating at the lake for our annual 4th of July celebration.  We had lots of fun as usual, and Andrew did pretty good.  He and I actually spent two nights in a hotel because his sleep wasn't so great.  And good thing, because he was up about every hour!  But, for good reason!  He got his two bottom teeth that weekend!  Looks like he is following John's teething schedule!  Other than that, he enjoyed being outside and being with everyone.  John did great also, and played LOTS of baseball!  Surprise, surprise!  

We also celebrated Josie's 2nd birthday and Libby's 5th birthday.  John went to Indiana for 5 days (!) with grandma and grandpa.  He has so much fun, and was very spoiled!  They went swimming, to the fair, and his favorite, to a South Bend SilverHawk's game.  Brad's cousin works there and even got him on the field and to meet some players.  He got to be in a dance contest and he won!  And he even beat a 10 year old, which he was so happy about.  :)

We missed John but it was nice to get some rest and have some alone time with Andrew.  Brad and I even got a date night in, which is always a bonus!

Last weekend we went camping with our parent group for our 3rd annual trip.  Andrew and I just went for the day on Friday, then drove back and he stayed Saturday night with my mom and I headed back up.  We had a great time and luckily had great weather.  John loved it and was so exhausted when we got home!  He has had a busy month!

At 5 months, Andrew has been so active!  He loves his jumperoo and play mat, and is rolling over like crazy.  If we set him down, he will be across the room in literally in a minute.  Guess it is time to start baby proofing a little more!  He is still nursing about every 3-4 hours and still does not love the bottle.  He will tolerate it for a few ounces, but that's all.  He has started to eat rice cereal which he likes.  He tries peas for the first time the other day but wasn't a huge fan, so we will keep trying.  He does love to nurse though, and that seems to be his comfort.  Initially I thought I would wean him around 6 months but it looks like we will stick with it!  I am good with that though, he is healthy and happy that way, so we will follow his lead!

And now for the sleep update...he is still not sleeping through the. Ought consistently, but he has gotten MUCH better now that he can roll and sleep on his tummy.  When he was teething, he was up pretty much every hour. Since then, he has gotten better about sleeping longer. Every now and then we have nights where he will keep waking up for his pacifier or comfort, but we have been trying to make him fuss it out a little more which seems to have helped.  He has been sleeping through the night more often, and usually goes to bed around 9:30 and will sleep until around 5 or 6, eat, then go back to bed until 8 or 9.  The only unpredictable part is if/how many times he will wake up in between.  :). He usually takes a mid morning 30-45 minute catnap, then a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.  He will sometimes take another catnap in the evening, with his last feeding around 9.  I feel much more rested which helps so much too.  I'm sure once I go back to work and we get on an earlier routine, he will get better.  At least that's what I tell myself.  :)

He is such a happy baby and so smiley, which melts my heart.  He loves his big brother and watching him, and has taken an interest in Allie too.  He is so close to sitting up on his own.  His coos, giggles, and screeches are so adorable too. We just love him so much. 

I can't believe August is right around the corner!  John has VBS all this week, which I am helping at, and is doing a sports camp all next week! Crazy to think about going back to work, but I am so incredibly happy that I get the opportunity to work 1/2 time this year.  It really will be the best of both worlds.

Here are some recent pictures from this month!  Enjoy!