1st Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day was great and unforgettable for many reasons, but two of which are the simplicity of it and the humor in it. Our grand plan was to head out in the boat for the first time of the season, and Nathan's first time ever. Well, Saturday would have been the perfect day, but the pollen and ragweed came into our home through every energy inefficient crack and we were in no shape to spend the day in the great outdoors. We hoped that Sunday's weather would defy the forecast, but that of course didn't happen. It was maybe 60 degrees and rainy. Not exactly boating weather.

So, we headed to church, where Nathan spent his first Sunday in the nursery. I must admit it was a little strange to be on this side of the nursery as I've spent the majority of my life caring for the babies, not dropping them off! He did great though and fell asleep in a nice lady's arms. When we picked him up, still asleep, we got him in his carseat, still asleep, and headed to the house to pick up Bailey. We had an open house so everyone had to be out. Nathan still asleep, we head to make some returns.

When it was time for lunch, Nathan is still asleep - but we're hungry. So we head to Arby's to get some fries to munch on until we could have a fun family lunch. As soon as Chad handed the drive thru lady the money, from the back seat we hear, "ahhhhhhh". It's Nathan's waking up talking. So with a bag of fries from Arby's, we head to Remington Grill for Burgers... and fries. Nathan sat in the high chair (in the comforts of his "buggy bagg") and did great. See...

He is so sweet when we go to restaurants. He looks around, squeals at people, and chews on a toy. We love it!

After lunch, I opened my present from Chad, WHICH I ABSOLUTELY LOVE. I collect the Willow Tree figurines. Chad got me "Child of my Heart". He told me that he picked this one (in lieu of the one with the mom holding the infant) because already Nathan is as long as the majority of my torso and so this one reminded him of us! So sweet and thoughtful.

The caption on it is simple but so true...
"Child of the world,
into my heart you came-
bringing sun into my life,
making family our name."

After lunch, we ran a few more errands, and then with 20 minutes to spare before we could enter our house again, we drove by our first house. Sometimes we both miss that sweet little house. We have SO many fun memories there. Isn't it a cute little house?

After we made it back to our house, we tried to make some Wilson family portraits. With the help of a tripod and the self timer button on my camera, we managed to get a couple decent shots. Here are the family ones:


When it came time to get a few more of each of us with the little man, he was WAY more interested in Bailey than any of his toys, even though we were violently shaking them above the camera so he'd look that way. What can I say, the bond between a boy and his dog is unshakable - even when the boy is 5.5 months old.



Here are the ones we managed to get.





Then of course, Bailey had to join in the photos. She was tired of sitting to the side being told to stay, while a little drolly boy wanted desperately to play with her. So she came to play, and be photographed.



We finished off our afternoon with a nap, some Chinese take out, a couple episodes of ER, including the latest one, which is all Lanie Pope talking about the tornadoes, and then headed to bed early.

It was a great Mother's Day, one I'll never forget.

24 Weeks and Loving Life

We've heard our pastor say many times, "The days are long, but the years are short." Oh how true that is. Nathan will be 6 months old in just 2 short weeks. He has lost a little bit of weight, down to 18 pounds as of the 6th. His doctor says there's no reason to worry though, he's in no danger of being underweight by losing a few ounces! He's growing more and more independent by the day. Although, sometimes that makes me miss the little tiny snuggly baby, usually I'm excited for his adventurous spirit and willingness to get out and try things. He loves to be in the middle of the action. He desperately wants to sit up on his own and play with his toys. We use the Bumbo chair some, but he's tipped it over once and can almost get out of by arching his back... so we sit on the floor most of the time. Look at how well he's sitting!




Okay, so I admit that Chad was right there to catch him when he began to topple over, which he did quite frequently. He hasn't figured out how to catch himself when he lunges backwards, but he's getting much better at balancing side to side.

His other favorite these days is standing. He'll stand anywhere, for almost 2 solid minutes. He can stand holding on to the couch, the table, your fingers, anything. If you hold his fingers and help him shift his weight, he'll start stepping and take about 8 steps before he needs a break. Isn't he cute standing up in his jeans that are too long?


Life changes everyday at the Wilson household and we are learning so many things about our little man. He's not really fond of tight waist bands on his pants (who is) and his belly is a little round, so I went out to buy him 9-12 month pants to fit his belly. They are so long and Chad got a huge kick out of this when he got him dressed this morning...


In the last week or so, Nathan has been sitting in the restaurant high chairs (safely surrounded by his padded buggy bagg) and has really been enjoying this new view of a restaurant. He'll sit while we eat our meal and is so patient.

We've also moved into size 3 diapers. Gone are the days of those soft swaddlers. We're now into "cruisers". I think we actually like them better. They still smell so nice and the have a lot more stretch in the legs and waist.

He's trying out different sippy cups to see if we find one he likes. So far he just loves to chew on the spouts. We've also moved up to bigger paci's. He seems to like the bigger ones better.

After we dropped his crib last Sunday, we took out the bumper pads. Nathan didn't like it. 2 nights of restless sleeping and 2 days of short naps and then, to top it all off, he woke up at 2am screaming with one arm and one leg stuck in the slats. I said "forget this no bumper thing" and in the middle of the night, put all of his bumpers back in. He's much happier now and sleeps so much better. I guess he feels more secure with the bumpers there to take up space.

Here are some fun pics of the little man


He is so desperate to learn to sit up. This is what he does almost every time we lay him down.


so smiley

LOVES his toes

In the mornings, Nathan loves to play in our huge fuzzy blanket while I get ready. He grabs it and pulls it up all around him and then rubs it on his face and chews on the blanket. This is such a sweet time for us!

Nathan has the best giggle. Honestly, he laughs more when he's with Chad than with anyone else and I love that they have that special relationship. He seems to constantly laugh when he's talking with his daddy.

In the past week, we've had to raise the height on Nathan's exersaucer. He's almost figured out how to jump in it. He's also figured out how to turn around to reach different toys. He still has his favorites though. A new favorite is this silly lion that plays music when you pull it's feet. Today, he learned to pull it all by himself. He was so proud that he'd figured this out. It was written all over his face after he did it. He pulled that thing so many more times and talked and laughed at his silly lion.






Here's a comparison photo of Nathan at 16 weeks and at 24 weeks. He looks so grown up! The 24 week is on the top, 16 week on the bottom.

Here, the 16 week photo is the one where he has clothes on.

24 week photos with the lion

Nathan wasn't really in the mood for a photo shoot this afternoon, but we'll work with what we've got. :) He was more interested in standing in the chair to look out the window. Fiercely independent is this little guy of ours.




Telling his lion secrets

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

We've always had a bedtime routine and bedtime has always been easy for our little guy - naps on the other hand have never been really easy. Well, they were easy when he was a newborn - waking him up was what was hard - and they were easy when he slept in a swing. For the past 2 months, he has slept in a crib for his naps and at bedtime, but naps haven't been as easy as bedtime, until now. We've finally established a routine that works at naptime and bedtime and it's working... BEAUTIFULLY! It's great, because anyone can do it, and that's important because Nathan has a few amazing babysitters and this will hopefully make their lives easier too! Yeah for routine, and yeah for sleeping!

Uncle Matt comes for a visit

Last night, Uncle Matt came to visit. I was so excited to see him. The last time he saw me was at Christmas and I still had my umbilical cord stump. I was so tiny and now I'm so big. Here's some pictures of Uncle Matt holding me when I was 2 days old.


I'm so much bigger now! I like my Uncle Matt.
He showed me how to wear a visor.

It was too big though.

Do you think my daddy looks like Uncle Matt?

They are funny when they are together.
Thanks for coming to visit Uncle Matt.

Me and Mommy

Holding my bottle

Well, daddy came home so we finally got a picture.

Look, I can hold my own bottle and I like to do it myself. Mommy's ready to catch it if I drop it.

Sometimes, I still need a little help with it because I forget I have to tip it up.

Sometimes, I miss my mouth and poke it in my nose.

I'll be a pro in no time! Aren't you all proud of my new skill?