That's love

Paxton has just started doing something that just melts my heart. When I hold him in my lap or lean over him when he is laying on the floor, he will reach up with both hands and hold my face. It is the sweetest thing. Its like he's saying "I love you Mommy, let me just hold your face for a little while." The first time he did it, I was sitting in the recliner and I called to Brandon to look. Two chubby little hands held my cheeks while my heart doubled in size with love for this little boy. I know he'll do many more things like that over the next few years that will just make me fall in love all over again but that has got to be the sweetest thing ever. Brandon and I say all the time to one another that we are truly amazed at how much we can love one little person.

update on the life of a 4 month old

So this Saturday Paxton will be 4 months old- crazy! Here are some things my sweet baby boy can do:

-Paxton can now reach for and pick up a toy in his hand
-He can also hold (if but for just a brief moment) his bottle between both hands
-He has recently (as in the last 2 weeks) learned to spit... he will put his tongue in between his lips and spray spit everywhere. He thinks this is funny and also does this when he is frustrated... very cute, albeit, very wet
-He smiles ALL the time
-He LOVES jumping in his doorway bouncy seat and is a hoot to watch
-I think he laughs... its more like a huge smile while he gasps with delight but it kinda sounds like a little baby laugh to me =)
-He loves to stand up while someone holds him steady... sometimes you can't get the kid to sit down!
-Brittney said he rolled over once already but we can't get him to do it again... we're working on it. I think his tooshy is holding him back =)

Over Thanksgiving, I decided I wanted to feed Paxton rice cereal for the first time. I figured that everyone else was getting to eat really good, so why not include Pax? We were at my Mom's house and Mom held him while I fed him. I don't think he liked it. We mixed in a little applesauce but I don't think he quite has the motion with his tongue yet. Everything I've read says to wait about a week and try again to see when the baby understands what to do with food in his mouth. So, the other night we tried again. We were so proud of ourselves because we rigged up Paxton's swing so that he was sitting upright (since we don't have a highchair or bumbo seat with tray yet) and once again... fail. Here are some pictures from my phone of our second attempt at rice cereal. They are quite funny... enjoy:

"Mom, not this again..."
"Dad, can't you help a brotha out here?"

"Is she really shoving this into my mouth, AGAIN?"

"Maybe if I keep spitting it out, she'll put some sugar in it"

"I might actually have to resort to crying if she doesn't get that I DON'T LIKE RICE CEREAL!"

What little Aiden made me thankful for

I thought it appropriate to write about being thankful since tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. I'm thankful for this healthy, happy family I am lucky enough to call my own. The best way I can illustrate my thankfulness is through a story...

Last thursday was the annual Children's Promise Radiothon to raise money for the NC Children's Hospital. During the Radiothon, different country artists perform and visit with some of the children in the hospital. Jason Michael Carroll is an artist who comes every year and he's a fairly big name country star so I look forward to his performance each year. This year, I had been on my feet since 4:15am and his performance was at 3:00pm so when I arrived in the lobby, I looked for a seat. There was one row of 5 chairs at the back of the seating where 4 of the seats were empty, and one seat was taken by a mother holding a tiny baby boy who was hooked up to an IV pole. His wagon and IV pole were beside the mother. I sat in the chair on the far end. As I looked at her, something strange came over me and feeling like someone else had taken over my body, I scooted one chair closer and asked the mother "How old is your baby?" "Aiden is 18 months" she replied and we began to talk, me about my new baby and she, about her 18 month journey with the tiny boy who was over a year older than my son, yet the same size, and not nearly as advanced as Paxton. "How long have you been in the hospital?" I asked her. "This time..." and after a pause and thinking about her answer she replied "3 months." I felt the tears surging toward my eyes and I struggled to push them away. She told me that she found herself in NC because in Florida, where she's from, there are only 2 nephrologists in the whole state, and since Aiden is in kidney failure, she packed her life up and moved to where the best help could be found. Little Aiden has cerebal palsy and is weighed daily, because once he reaches 20 pounds, he can become eligible for a kidney transplant.

After talking with Aiden's mom for 15 minutes or so, Jason Michael Carroll made his way to the stage to sing but I could barely hear through the tears that threatened to flood my face. All I could think about was how Aiden had made me so overwhelmingly grateful for my healthy, happy baby. Not that I wasn't grateful before, but Aiden made me realize just how lucky I am and how different things could be.

Kiss your children a little more tonight and watch them while they sleep, and count yourself blessed that you spent the last 3 months at home, and not in the hospital. Pray for Aiden and his mommy, because if it were me, I know I would need showers of prayer to get through that trial.

Thank you, Aiden, and Happy Thanksgiving.

Paxton's almost 3 months old!

Whoa! Scuse me? I'm looking for the past 3 months... yes, could you help me find them because apparently they DISAPPEARED! Yes, cheesy or not, I cannot believe that my little baby will be three months old in a week! 12 weeks ago exactly I was laying in a hospital bed cuddling my baby boy for the first time and I made the mistake of blinking because suddenly here we are, 3 months later. My mom told me not to blink because it goes by so quickly and she was right.

To update you, since apparently blogging as a mommy is much more difficult than blogging with no kid (due to my strong desire to spend every waking moment with Paxton, not concerned with whether the sun rises or sets, I ever brush my teeth, or I blog another post... ok, I'm joking, I still brush my teeth), here are the stats on my sweet baby boy. Pax is, as of his 2 month appointment- which was actually when he was 10 weeks old-, 14lbs 9ozs. Yes, I did just tell you that my almost 3 month old is almost 15 pounds. And yes, that is VERY heavy for an almost 3 month old. And yes, I can almost not pick him up anymore. Kidding. But seriously, this kid is built like a linebacker... which, by the way, I hope he never is because I can't stand the thought of my baby getting hurt. So Paxton, if you are reading this is 2020 or at some time thereafter, please choose soccer or basketball or golf or baseball as your sport of choice. I know, I know, kids get hurt in all of those sports but in football, kids break their necks. Literally. If I had time, I would find the story I just recently saw on the news of a highschooler who broke his neck in football practice. Eeek! Not my kid, LORD, not my kid!

Anywho, back to the hoss (is that how you spell that?). We basically skipped 3 month onesies. I mean, he wore a few, but he's seriously sporting 6 month clothes. omg. Where did my tiny baby go? In other news, I can carry him on my hip like a toddler sometimes (I usually don't since I want to craddle him like the baby he is) and his hair is growing back on top. He sports 2 of the cutest chins I've ever seen... yeah a double chin and his cheeks are super fat and pinchable.

Learning to laugh

So I thought I would share with you a sweet sweet video of my baby boy trying to laugh and in doing so I started thinking about life a little... First things first... here's the video:

How many times in life are we encouraged to try something new, something we aren't quite sure about, and then praised no matter what the outcome is? Every time Paxton tries to laugh and doesn't quite figure it out, I just laugh and encourage him to keep trying. I thought about my mom when I saw this video, because my mom always encouraged me to do anything I put my mind to. In fact, she would tell me that I COULD do it, I was CAPABLE, that I WOULD accomplish that thing, whatever it may be. Thanks to my mom, I've accomplished a lot in my short life. I never knew just how valuable that encouragement was until I had Paxton. Now I find myself encouraging him constantly... even though these things are about learning to talk, learning to smile, learning to stand, learning to laugh.

So if you've been doubting yourself lately, let me encourage you, too... because I know you can... learn to laugh.

A coincidence? I say a miracle =)

So a while back I posted about us going through something that I was trusting God to handle. Well, that something was a financial struggle. The church always seems to see a decline in the summer and this summer was particularly tough. Tadd finaly came to the staff and asked if they would consider taking no paychecks or half paychecks. I wasn't too worried about it, even with a baby on the way, because I knew we were faithful in our finances and that we wouldn't starve. Well, one month turned into two, turned into three, into four. Here we are in October still talking about half paychecks, if we're lucky to get one at all. Last week was really the first week I started to worry. Why did I even start to worry in the first place? I know not to doubt God's mighty power yet I still let a dark corner of doubt creep into the back of my mind. However, just when I let that happen, God clapped His hands and said, "Here, child, trust Me. Let me show you just how I roll." (Maybe God doesn't say "roll", maybe He does =). I found out at work that day that we were just approved for our employee incentive program- a bonus- and our market increase- a raise. I don't know yet if I am one of the job classes that will have their salary raised to market BUT I also realized something else that day. In September, it just so happens to work out that I get 3 paychecks (because there are 5 Wednesdays) and on the 3rd paycheck, insurance costs are not taken out of my check. The amount of the extra salary from not taking out the benefits pay for insurance plus my bonus happens to equal Brandon's paycheck that we aren't getting. I'm talking within a hundred dollars. God is good. He said to let Him do His thang and boy did He! That'll teach me to waver!! Geez! So, don't worry, we aren't going hungry this month and the bills are all getting paid. Don't ship us to the poorhouse just yet =)

Bathtime!

Paxton's expressions during bathtime crack me up... enjoy! =)
Oh, and I'm not sure how to blur out his little "wee-wee" so beware that this is uncensored! =)