First Mother's Day

I am so blessed. I have heard time and time again that being a Mom is one of the best things in the world. I know now that this is true. One month and one day ago, I became a Mom and my life changed. I know for certain that this change has truely blessed my life. Never before has anything made me more happier than being able to be Brody's Mom.

On this Mother's Day I am also so thankful for my own Mom. I better understand the struggles, hard decisions, and life changes that come with being a Mother. Growing up, I never once heard my Mom complain about her role as a Mom. Since I was born, my Mom's life immediately became her children. My sisters and I are so blessed to have had her attention and guidance all those years. Now, as we are growing up and moving out of the house one by one, I imagine it must be a hard transition going from caring for three kids to having an empty house. However, now more than ever, I feel as though I need my Mom. I am so grateful that she is just a phone call away whenever I have a problem or question or just need someone to talk to (which is quite often). I couldn't ask for a better Mom. I am so lucky to be able to call her my best friend. I love you Mommy. Happy Mother's Day.

Summer 2009, California trip

We love our little man.

Is it just me, or does Brody look older already? I love how he looks in little hoodies, however I may have to stop dressing him in them because it makes me realize how fast he is growing. They make him look so grown up! We are loving having him in our home. He brings us so many laughs everyday. Jeff and I can't get enough of him. We went to a ward picnic today and literally were arguing over who's turn it was to hold him and show him off to everyone. Can you blame us though?

A Nana becomes a G.G.

During my years growing up I've always had a very special place in my heart for my Nana. Some of my best summertime memories are the extended vacations that I would take to her house. There has never been a doubt in my mind that she loves me. I am so grateful for that. Not only do I have a supportive family at home, but I have been blessed with an extra support system on the other side of the state. I will never take this fact for granted. Both my Nana and Gramps have been there for me through some of my hardest times. They have never judged me or put me down. They are always there with good advice and many words of encouragement.

When I was born I got the privalege to be my Nana's very first grandchild. I have always felt special because of this. Now that Brody is born, he has the privalege of being Nana's very first great grandchild. He is so blessed. He will know my Nana as his G.G. I can't wait to hear him call her that someday. I am so grateful that my Nana was able to take the time off her busy work schedule and visit for an entire week. One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to see her interact with Brody. She had a sneaky way of getting extra turns holding him without anyone really noticing. I'm sure she held him more than anyone in the house that week. She already loves her "little champ", and I know from experience how lucky this makes him.

A Dad and his Son

One of my favorite things about Brody being added to our lives has been to watch Jeff be a Dad. He is so careful with him and you can just tell that he is so proud to call Brody his son. He refused to let me hold him, even for a second, during our three hour church session on Sunday. He wanted to be  sure that he was the one to show off our little guy to everyone. While I have been trying to sleep train Brody, it is so hard for Jeff to hear his little man cry in his room. After around two minutes of listening to his whines, Jeff can't take it anymore and HAS to go and rescue him. While this is not the best technique for what I'm trying to achieve with Brody's sleeping habits, I can't blame him. Those cries are so sad, and it also makes me so happy that Jeff cares so much about our little Brody. Brody is so lucky to have Jeff as his dad. I know that Jeff will always be there for Brody and I am excited to witness all the special Dad-Son experiences that they will have together.

A Mom and her Son

On the weekends Brody and I get to spend extra one on one time together. Jeff works on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Usually these shifts make it so he doesn't return home until 1:30 in the morning. Last night, after I took my friend Jackie home, Brody was fast asleep in his carseat. He looked so peaceful and so cute in that moment. After we got home, I sat his carseat on the carpet and knelt down just to look at my little son sleeping peacefully there, all wrapped up in multiple blankets. Finally, I removed his blankets, unbuckled his straps, and took his limp, sleepy, little body from out of his carseat. I wrapped him up again in one of his warm blankets and just layed with him on the couch. I just stared at his little face. I thought about some of the things this little guy will someday experience. He is going to someday learn to count. He is going to someday take his first step. He is going to someday be a big brother. He is going to someday have his first day at Kindergarden. He is going to someday fall and scrap his little perfect knee. He is going to someday lose his first tooth. These little moments ran through my mind as a stared at his little face last night. I am so thankful that I get to be his mom and experience all of these small moments with him. I am excited to watch him grow and see what type of boy he becomes, and then see what type of man he becomes later. It is hard for me to believe that all these things and more will happen to this tiny little baby that I now can hold and cuddle right in my arms. I remember thinking that this is one of the only times in both of our lives that I can kiss his cute little face all over and he won't say, "Mom, stop that." Because I know that day will come. This is also one of the only times where he does fit into my arms and we can just lie on the couch and cuddle for hours, falling asleep until Dad gets home.

Church with Brody

I must say, our little guy looked especially handsome on his first day of three hour church on Sunday. He did awesome as well. Jeff held him, bounced him, and played with him the whole time. A distraction during Sunday School.. what more could Jeff ask for? However, his cute little outfit didn't last long.. Brody decided it would be fun to pee all over it after about an hour and half. Thankfully I had packed a spare outfit in my diaper bag. This is our Brody in his second outfit.. he still managed to stay cute for all the ladies at church.

Its a different feeling for me to carry a diaper bag everywhere I go when I'm with Brody. The other day someone asked for a wipe and I think I was a BIT too excited about first, being a person who has wipes, and second, being able to offer my wipe services. I have everything I need in my handy diaper bag.. especially for Mr. Peeboy.

Mr. Peeboy: Brody aquired this name yesterday, when he.. well... peed all over his face. No, I'm unfortunately not joking. I was changing his diaper, holding up his skinny little legs, Brody was as content as can be, when I hear this little whine. I look up, and what do you know.. Brody is peeing all over his onsie, the changing table, and his entire face. I was mortified. Is pee in your eyes dangerous? I hope not because Brody definitely had good aim towards both his left and his right. Bath time followed quickly after that episode. I need to learn my lesson one of these days... diaper change= time to place the wipe on the area where damage may happen.

Babywise

For the first two weeks of Brody's little life, our apartment was filled with family. Brody was never put down for more than five minutes before the next loving aunt, grandma, grandpa, great grandma, mom, or dad came by and snatched him back up again. He was spoiled for sure. This weekend Jeff worked three straight days, like he usually does, and I was left alone with Brody. Friday night Brody and I hung out and I enjoyed holding him, feeding him, playing with him, and having him all to myself without anyone else wanting to touch him. Saturday though, I realized what we had turned this little guy into. Brody was a baby with an obsession, an obsession for being held... at all times. I realized that he wouldn't even sleep content without being in my arms. That night, I didn't eat dinner, clean the house, get up to turn on the TV, brush my teeth, change into my pajamas, or anything else that included leaving Brody's and my spot on the couch. That sounds so lazy of me! And it is. I was being controlled by my little baby. When he was hungry, I'd sit there and feed him until he fell asleep. Then he would be asleep, and since he would wake up when I tried to sit him down, I'd sit there until he woke up. When he'd wake up, he'd be hungry, and so my "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" senario would start back over again. By the end of the night, it was decided, some change needed to be made.

On Sunday I opened up the Babywise book I had bought months ago for my Kindle. I had hoped to have had it read by the time Brody came. But with school and work, that never happened. I started and finished that book on Sunday and was ready to begin training Brody to take naps alone, in his own bed. I also must add that we were currently creating another bad habit for Brody- sleeping in our bed. I know, I know, it is bad, dangerous, not smart, and so on.. but really, can you say no to this cute, chubby little face when all he wants is to be next to you??

You get my point. So while I was reading about how to train Brody, I was also taking notes on how to train myself to get out of these habits and into some better ones.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Babywise, it is an informative book on raising babies. It talks about everything from breastfeeding to sleeping habits. What they are most known for is their program to get your baby to sleep through the night. While Brody had been sleeping great through the night, I needed to figure out how to have him do this alone, in his own bed. After reading the book, I created his Babywise schedule. This is a schedule filled with a feeding time, wake time, and sleep time every 2 1/2 hours throughout the day.

At first Brody was not used to being just put into his pack and play and left without anyone there rocking him or holding him. This forced him to make this sound come out of his mouth that breaks my heart and causes me to sweat everytime I hear it.. I think it's called a cry. On Sunday night, Jeff was at work again, and I was feeling as though I was being put through torture listening to my little guy cry. Boy how ten minutes of crying can feel like a century.

It is Thursday now and I am pleased to announce that Brody has not slept in our bed since that Sunday night. I like to believe that he enjoys his pack and play now. Yesterday I came to check on him during one of his sleep times and he was just chilling in there, looking around and sucking on his little Seahawks pacifier. Most of the time, he doesn't even cry when I lay him down to go to sleep anymore. He takes five naps a day and sleeps through the night, only waking up once when he is hungry. Jeff and I really couldn't have asked for an easier baby.

If I have learned anything from putting Brody on this schedule it is that all babies really do is eat and sleep. I don't know why this surprised me so much but I just never noticed it before. Him sleeping on the couch or in our arms didn't really feel like he was asleep as much as placing him into his bed to go to sleep does. Babywise is working for us though. I am able to get a lot more accomplished now than I was that Saturday night. Thank goodness, cause that was bad! Brody seems even happier and more content than before since he is getting so much sleep and is getting so used to this consistent schedule.