Almost 9 Months

Our dear one will be 9 months tomorrow! It's amazing -  you're  9 months pregnant and then before you know it your baby is  9 months old!

Sweet Summertime!

Next month we leave for the beach for a whole week! Whoo-hoo! While I'm super excited for vacation I'm also a LITTLE (ok, A LOT) nervous about driving for 7 hours avec bebe and beaching it with a 9 month old. I've probably over packed and over planned but hey, its our first go-round so we'll learn. In anticipation of the beach, here's some cute water pics of Conrad's first time in the baby pool!

I don't know about this Dad

I don't like it!

Ok...if Pop-Pop gets in with me I'm ok

Hey, this water stuff is alright as long as I get to chew on things

Cousin Brayden joins in!

Now we're ready to test out that big pool they call the ocean!

Looking Back...

Conrad Cayce was born on October 7, 2012 at 7pm via unscheduled c-section. He was 10 days early, the first three months were the hardest in my life,  I haven’t slept past 7 am in over a year, and I still don’t have my pre-baby body back yet but IT IS ALL WORTH IT!

My nephew, Brayden, was born the year before, on August 6, 2011. He was SO adorable, so sweet, and I was hooked.

My sweet nephew, Brayden Thomas

By the time I got pregnant in January of 2012, I was SO nervous that I wouldn’t love my own baby as much as I loved my nephew. Ha. Not even close. I love Conrad so much that now I’m worried to have a second child, in fear that I won’t love him or her as much as my sweet bug. This is now my excuse for waiting five years a couple years to have another; if it were up to Sean, we would already be pregnant again. Clearly he doesn’t remember those aforementioned horrible first three months with a newborn.

Conrad is no longer that screaming three month old but a happy, energetic, playful, smart, and loving eight month old. Each morning seeing his smile when I get him out of bed is the best way to start my day and cuddling him in his rocker before bed is the best way to spend the night. Sure, we still have our bad spots (for instance, when the teething monster is in town) but they are ALL WORTH IT! Seeing him develop each and every day makes this mom proud. I cherish each passing day and I’m excited for the future yet wish time would stop. Do all Moms feel this way?

I love this little man!

Conrad Firsts

First day of life

 

First day home

First Redskins game

First day of church

  

 

First smile caught on camera

  

 

First Thanksgiving

 

First Christmas

 

First "big boy" bath

 

First GMU game

 

 First time in the Exersaucer

 And that's just within the first sixmonths of life! It's amazing how quickly babies can learn new things, how fast they develop, and how much they can change over such a short period of time. We can't wait to see what the next year holds!

Happy 4...and 5 months Conrad!

Yes, I have a lot of ground to cover here. This little one is not so little anymore! The past three months have been absolutely amazing as far as Conrad’s growth and development. We’ve seen him turn from a screaming, GERD-hurting, ear-infection burning, difficult to feed, no-sleeping baby (albeit still very cute) to a rolling around, sitting up, GERD almost gone, HUNGRY, laughing and interacting baby. THANK THE LORD. Those first three to four months were ROUGH. It took us a while to find the right formula, get on the right medications for his GERD, and a couple trips to the pediatrician for ear infections (twice) for us to finally have a happy, content baby. However, despite all the difficulties (and post-partum depression), I am SO happy to be Conrad’s mom and I am thankful every day for being chosen to be his mom. When times got hard, I kept reminding myself of something my mom used to say: “God doesn’t give you anything He think you can’t handle.” And I totally believe it – God gave us Conrad because He knew I would be patient and able to come out on the other side without being totally broken. It also forced Sean and me to work as a team and as a result, bring us closer together – which we absolutely needed in our marriage.

Dear Conrad,

Mom and Dad can’t BELIEVE how much you’ve grown and how fast time flies. In a week and a half you’ll be 6 months old. We remember back to when you were a newborn and constantly crying, thinking, “when will this phase end??”.And while I’m glad for your sake and ours that you are now a happy healthy baby, I am also sad that time has passed so quickly. You can now sit up on your own and have no need for the baby Bumbo seat (plus your legs are too fat!). You can now eat bananas, apples, green beans, and rice cereal – and you love it all. A LOT. I’ve never seen such a hungry baby!!

You have been rolling from your back to tummy for a while which makes falling asleep in your crib much easier at night – you just roll to your belly and fall right asleep. You’re just now learning to roll from your belly to your back and it’s so neat to see you try – you are so strong! And you love your bouncy seat that Grandma and Grandpa gave you – you’re legs are so big that you love trying to stand up on your own.

And you’ve found your voice! You love to talk and scream and LAUGH. Your little laugh, especially when it’s a big laugh-out-loud giggle is the most wonderful noise Mom and Dad have heard. And we love your little dimple in your left cheek when you smile.

We hope you continue to grow and thrive and get even happier day by day…and eventually sleep through the night.

Love you to the moon and back,

Mommy and Daddy

Bad Blogger

No joke…being a working mother is HARD. Why didn’t anyone tell me this?? I have no time for anything except work and Conrad. This is my own doing, of course, because anytime I’m not at work I want to spend time with him! Therefore things like cleaning the house, the laundry, me working out, this blog all get put on the back burner.  I mean, come on, wouldn’t you want to spend all your free time with this little guy??

I’ll have to do another day-in-the-life post soon because now that I’m back to work, it’s a totally different ball game than it was when I was at home. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my job, and if I have to go back to work, I’m glad it was back to a place I like, but I’d much rather prefer to stay with my little one all day. At least until he’s a bit older. I KNOW that being a SAHM is very difficult but because of all the issues I dealt with during Conrad’s first four months that he was at home with me, I know I’d be up for the challenge. My SAHM friends say they have their own times when they wish they were back at work but I think it’s that way for everyone – grass is always greener and all that. I have to remember that trying to do it all will only make me drive myself crazy!

 

Since Conrad is STILL not sleeping through the night – yes, something that we are going to attempt to work on this month – it’s hard for me to develop a schedule in the morning to work out, have breakfast, do my hair, take a shower (jk…only some mornings…) and all that. Then at night since I want to spend as much time as possible with him, the only time I have to get stuff done is after he is in bed which is around 8pm…and I’m exhausted and want to spend time with the husband. Woe is me…I have a great job, great family, beautiful house to take care of. FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS.  I just have to keep telling myself that when I have a 9 hour workday, 10 loads of laundry to do, haven’t showered, and a baby that still wakes up at 2am every night. First world problems, first world problems.

Conrad: 4 and 5 months

Yes, I have a lot of ground to cover here. This little one is not so little anymore! The past three months have been absolutely amazing as far as Conrad’s growth and development. We’ve seen him turn from a screaming, GERD-hurting, ear-infection burning, difficult to feed, no-sleeping baby (albeit still very cute) to a rolling around, sitting up, GERD almost gone, HUNGRY, laughing and interacting baby. THANK THE LORD. Those first three to four months were ROUGH. It took us a while to find the right formula, get on the right medications for his GERD, and a couple trips to the pediatrician for ear infections (twice) for us to finally have a happy, content baby. However, despite all the difficulties (and post-partum depression), I am SO happy to be Conrad’s mom and I am thankful every day for being chosen to be his mom. When times got hard, I kept reminding myself of something my mom used to say: “God doesn’t give you anything He think you can’t handle.” And I totally believe it – God gave us Conrad because He knew I would be patient and able to come out on the other side without being totally broken. It also forced Sean and me to work as a team and as a result, bring us closer together – which we absolutely needed in our marriage.

Dear Conrad,

Mom and Dad can’t BELIEVE how much you’ve grown and how fast time flies. In a week and a half you’ll be 6 months old. We remember back to when you were a newborn and constantly crying, thinking, “when will this phase end??”.And while I’m glad for your sake and ours that you are now a happy healthy baby, I am also sad that time has passed so quickly. You can now sit up on your own and have no need for the baby Bumbo seat (plus your legs are too fat!). You can now eat bananas, apples, green beans, and rice cereal – and you love it all. A LOT. I’ve never seen such a hungry baby!!

You have been rolling from your back to tummy for a while which makes falling asleep in your crib much easier at night – you just roll to your belly and fall right asleep. You’re just now learning to roll from your belly to your back and it’s so neat to see you try – you are so strong! And you love your bouncy seat that Grandma and Grandpa gave you – you’re legs are so big that you love trying to stand up on your own.

And you’ve found your voice! You love to talk and scream and LAUGH. Your little laugh, especially when it’s a big laugh-out-loud giggle is the most wonderful noise Mom and Dad have heard. And we love your little dimple in your left cheek when you smile.

We hope you continue to grow and thrive and get even happier day by day…and eventually sleep through the night.

Love you to the moon and back,

Mommy and Daddy