Brody's first 'real' christmas

so last christmas i had an infant...christmas was pretty much a blur because i was not getting any sleep and we were "homeless":) we didnt have a house to decorate or enjoy during the holidays. This christmas we are in our beautiful new home and have a toddler...a big difference! i remember saying last year, "next year we will have a toddler running around pulling ornaments off the tree and getting into all of the christmas decorations...while some of that is true, he has done much better than i thought! he has a grasp of the word "no" and has gotten his hand popped quite a few times for messing with the ornaments, but all in all he hasnt turned our christmas upside down like i thought he would!:) hes been REALLY good about the tree...much to my surprise! and we didnt have to NOT put any decorations out or take the bottom ornaments off the tree due to our toddler!

i wasnt sure what to expect from brody this year...i didnt know if he would be excited about his new things, or if hed even realize there was anything special about christmas day. we went upstairs to get him when he woke up and brian went downstairs with the video camera to tape "his reaction" to his new things when he came down the stairs with me. i honestly didnt think that he would do much.. i thought video taping was a little overboard for this year, but i let brian have his fun. much to my surprise when we came downstairs and he saw his new toolbench and all of the tools his whole face lit up! just like you would want your sons face to look on his first real christmas:) it was too cute! i put him down and he ran over to it and started banging around on it with all of the tools. and when we started letting him unwrap gifts, he was all into that too! he would unwrap one, get all excited, and then go for the next one. It was a great christmas...much more eventful than i really expected:)

Words

Brody is really starting to "talk" now. somebody asked me this week what words he was saying, and when i started naming them all, i realized that he really does know alot!
- Mama
-Dada
-Rye-Rye (Riley)
-Nonna (my mom)
-Mah (More)
-Quack Quack (when you ask what a duck says)
-mmmm (when you ask what a cow says)
-Dat ("that"- and he points at what he wants)
-Nana (Banana)
- MMMAHHH (when he gives kisses)
-RumRum (when he plays with vehicles)

and he know a little sign language
-more
-please
-all done
-eat

1 year old!

my baby is 1......to think that 1 year ago i was holding this helpless little baby that needed me to do everything for him! now i have a toddler who can do alot of things all by himself! Friday night (his actual birthday), We had a little family get-together for him. (MeMe, Poppy, Aunt Krystal, Cousin Harrison, Uncle Parker, Aunt Lindsay, Nonna and PopPop). he opened presents and had his first birthday cake. Once he took one taste of the icing, it was all over from there!! he started double handing it and shoveled it in!! we were so busy laughing at him, i wasnt paying attention to how much he was eating. before i knew it he had devoured alot of the cake! i was so worried he was going to wake up with a tummy ache or worse be sick for his party the next day. thankfully he slept fine and felt great:)
We had a "pig-picking" for his birthday party. it turned out to be so much fun. Brian and our friend Brooks, got up at 3:30 in the morning to start cooking the pig and stayed up all night by the fire:) it was SO YUMMY!! they did a great job! Body loved it too! we had all of our family there and quite a few friends from church....it ended up being ALOT of people. But thankfully we had tons of food:) We let brody have another cake and this time he knew what it was all about and dug right in the minute we put it in front of him! A friend of ours, made the most adorable cake for everybody else....it was a big john deere tractor....it was the cutest cake i have ever seen! she did an amazing job! He had so much fun having all of his little friends there and his cousins too:) thank you so much to all who made it so special!
1 year update: Here are some things my little 1 yr old is doing....
* walking great!
* saying Mama, Dada, Nonna, Rye-Rye, occasionally will say PopPop:)
* making truck and tractor sounds (RumRum)
* He LOVES riley and LOVES the horses
* He will literally sit on brian's tractors and PopPop's boat for hours if you let
him
* pointing at everything
* he knows where his belly, mouth, and ears are.

WALKING!?!

So Brody started walking about 2 weeks ago...but i have not had time to blog about it! On Oct 25th i saw him take his first 2 steps by himself from the gate to the laundry room where Riley was to his walker toy. Then in only a weeks time he was walking EVERYWHERE! He is so proud of himself! For the first week, everytime he would walk even just one step he would start clapping for himself...too cute!it took about a week and a half of walking to finally figure out how to go from sitting on the floor to a standing position without pulling up on anything..but he has now mastered that and there is nothing stopping him from walking anywhere he wants to go!

The Pumpkin Patch

We took Brody to the pumpkin patch last sunday night and he had a great time. He wasn't quite sure what to think of everything going on around him... but we were still able to get a few great pictures of our 11 month old baby boy! It's hard to believe that he's almost 1!

2 more teethies

Brody has 2 more bottom teethies..making the grand total 6 teeth now:)

Where does he learn these things?!

So this week my mom was feeding brody some food by way of a fork....ive never really done that. i always use a spoon or let him pick it up himself. she put some cooked apples on the end of the fork and set it down just for a second to grab his juice. before she knew it he had the fork in his mouth,he ate the apple and laid it down as if he was saying "more please". she assumed i had taught him this, so she let him eat most of his lunch that way. she called me later and asked when i started letting him eat with a fork!of course i was shocked and told her that i had never let him do that before. when i got home from work that night, i had to see it with my own eyes of course and sure enough when i laid the fork in front of him with food on it...it his mouth it went:)

The funniest thing....at least to Brody

Sippy cups have been a bit of a challenge for us. For a long time Brody refused to pick them up...he wanted me to hold it for him. Then when he figured out how to hold it, he couldnt figure out how to tip it back. So i tried the sippy cups with the straws. it took him a while to figure out how to sip from it....but once he figured it out, he thought it was the funniest thing! he would take a sip from it and then let out the biggest belly laugh! he kept doing it over and over again and laughing everytime:) So, needless to say...no tipping is involved with drinking from the straw sippy cups. He knows how to hold it up to his mouth and drink from it...but alot of the time he just crawls up to it and bends his head down and sips! it pretty funny!

Tooth #3

Brody's third tooth has finally popped through! its been a rough past few weeks! he was really uncomfortable a couple weeks ago. he was waking up at night and just crying for a few minutes and then going back to sleep (pretty quickly thank goodness!). We gave him tylenol for a few nights until the worst was over and let him chew on cold things-- which made his poor little gums bleed:( they were so red and swollen! So the top right tooth finally popped through a couple days ago and the one right beside it is close to it! He's had everything that everyone says goes along with teething-- runny nose, diaper rash, and fussiness. i have heard horror stories of teething though...a really none of this has been anything to complain about! so thankfully brody hasnt been as bad as alot of kids are when they get their teeth! his bottom ones came in without any trouble, but the top ones have been a little more difficult for the little guy. im not promising any pictures of this one though... ive only gotten to see it a few times:)

10 months old

Another month has flown by....my baby is 10 months old. He went for a well check up at the doctor last week. He is 23 lbs 12 oz (85th percentile)and 32 inches long (90th percentile). Some of his new things hes doing this month....
*when you ask "how big is brody?" he stretches both hands up in the air
*making truck and tractor sounds when he is playing
*saying "hi" and waving
*standing up by himself (no steps yet though)
*walking all over the place with his push toys
We have been having so much fun with him. Hes definitely into EVERYTHING and is hearing the word "no" alot, but He is such a joy and i am so proud to be his mommy:)

Teeth Pics

For those of you who have been wanting to see pictures of Brody's little teethies (Meme and Poppy:)) i put a picture with the post about his teeth down below.

First Words

when Brian and I first realized how much Brody loves Riley (our yellow lab), Brian told me that Brody's first word was probably going to be Riley:) well...he was right. We have always called her Rye-Rye. Hes been saying it for a few weeks and we thought it was just coincidence. Hes been saying mama and dada for a couple of months, but obviously has no clue what they mean:) But Rye-Rye he knows! this weekend at the beach, everytime he would see her, he would say "Rye-Rye". One morning after i put him in bed with me, he even crawled over and looked over the edge of the bed where she was sleeping and called her name! it was so cute...so early in the morning...the first thing out of his mouth!:) So his first (and only) word is "Rye-Rye".

9 months

Today my sweet baby is 9 months old...its hard to believe! but then again, its hard to remember life without him. He is such a joy! He is the happiest baby....he hardly EVER cries and spends most of his time smiling and laughing. We feel so blessed! i love him more everyday..if thats at all possible! i thought id write down some of my favorites that have to do with Brody.
- his laugh (the deep belly laughs:))
- his slobbery open mouth kisses on my cheek
- when he reaches his arms out for me
- his twinkley eyes when he smiles
- his dimples
- when he "claps"
- when he gives "fives"
- how he concentrates so hard when he feeds himself
- how he's such a momma's boy!
- watching him sleep
I LOVE MY BABY BOY!!!

First 2 teeth!

So Brody is FINALLY getting some teeth! i have been wondering when they were finally going to pop through. hes almost 9 months old and ive been thinking that he was never going to get teeth! he thankfully hasnt been fussy at all...i was a little worried about that...ive heard horror stories! i will try to post some pictures if he will ever open his mouth long enough for me to take a picture of them:)

Eating all by myself:)

Brody has been refusing to feed himself. He would pick up just about any food in his hands but he never would connect that with putting it up to his mouth. Hes been putting EVERYTHING in his mouth since he was just a few months old...but not food!The funniest thing...i would put cereal on the floor in front of him to see if he would eat it and he would bend all the way down with his mouth to the floor and eat it off the floor!! finally last week i just put a bunch of cereal all over his exersaucer and just left him alone with it...he wasnt going to get any help from mommy! sure enough...being the very hungry boy that he is, it didnt take him long to figure it out!

so many new things....

You would think after having a baby for 8 months now that i wouldnt be surprised at how fast they learn things and develop! But Brody still amazes me everytime her learns something new! this week has been full of new things for Brody. He can now go from laying down to sitting up on his own....which definitely causes a problem for naptime. When i lay him down in his crib, its not 30 seconds before hes sitting up, looking around and playing! He's been sitting up by himself for almost 3 months now, but he hasnt been able to get there on his own..i always had to sit him up.

He also started PULLING UP this week! Hes very good at pulling up in his crib and loves to stand at the baby gate to the laundry room where the dog stays:) He cant pull up on everything yet...but if its the perfect height he knows what to do!

Hes definitely getting the hang of CRAWLING. Hes still doing alot of "army crawling". But he does get up on his hands a knees and picks up his arms and legs...he just doesnt get very far that way:)

Brody has always loved playing PATTYCAKE. he gets this goofy smile on his face everytime we start to clap his hands together. He started clapping by himself this week though! he pats his hands more on top of each other than together, but nevertheless...its a clap:)

Its so amazing to see how babies know whats next on the list of developements. normally, its not anything you have to teach him...he just starts doing it on his own! It love seeing Brody learn new things...its one of the best feelings as a mommy!

House pics

so after people asking for months now for me to post pictures of the new house..i finally have! theres a link over to the right of all of the pics. I feel so blessed. if i even began writing about all of the blessings that came when we were building this house, i would be writing all day. in every room there is a story of something that was given to us or somebody gave us a great deal on! the Lord definitely showed his hand as we were building our dream home! our horses love the new place and i love having them there!

Crawling....Thats what we call it

Brody is on the move!! hes not up on all fours crawling yet...but he definitely can get where he wants to go! it is the funniest thing!!! he puts his arms straight out in front of him and lays his head on the floor and pushes himself around. his poor little face gets carpet burns! when he wants something, he will definitely go and get it now!

First Ride on Zoe

Brody has been around the horses since he was just a few days old. He has sat on their backs for a few minutes, but weve never put the saddle on and let him "ride". this weekend we took him for his first little ride! you could definitely tell horseback riding was bred into him! he sat up there so straight and tall and immediately grabbed onto the saddle horn and held on while we led him around the yard! he LOVED it!

So much to say...so little time

i have so much to blog about! brody is having so many "firsts" this summer. i dont have time to post pictures right now so you will have to wait for those. brody had his first trip to the beach this past weekend. Our small group went the emerald isle and stayed at sara's parents place. it was a great weekend with our closest friends! brody absolutely loved the pool! he played in the water for hours! he was ok with the ocean....i think it was a little cold for him:) he thankfully didnt eat any sand but loved feeling it in between his toes and fingers!

The farm is complete!!

Our farm is finally complete!!! we moved the horses this weekend FINALLY!! i cannot even put into words how excited i am! i know i have said this before...but i have been waiting my whole life to look out my back window and see my horses! im so thankful for my sweet husband who has literally put in hundreds of hours getting the place ready for them...and it is absolutely beautiful!! hes made me one happy girl!

Fathers Day

Today Brody and I spent the whole day with my dad. we went to church with him this morning and then spent the day on the lake with him too. i am SO thankful for him! i become more thankful for my dad everyday and love him more than i did the day before...i think it has something to do with me being a parent now. you realize how much your parents love you and how much they did and still do for you! Unfortunately Brian isnt with us on his first Father's day... he is in costa rica on a missions trip. its sad with him not here on his first day celebrating being a dad! i think he was more upset about me taking brody on his first day of boating without him, than not being here for Fathers day...oops!

First Day on the Boat

My family's favorite thing to do together is spend a day out on the boat water skiing. some of my first memories are out on the boat! today we tok brody out for his first day on the boat. He LOVED it! he wasnt all that thrilled about the life jacket....but he soon forgot about it once we got on our way! he eventually fell asleep on my lap, so we made him a little bed on the floor of the boat and he slept for about 30 min. I remember mom and dad making me beds on the floor of the boat and trying to sleep in that uncomfortable life jacket, but being so tired from being out all day that it didnt even matter. it was so cute to see brody out there doing the same things i did and even wearing the same life jacket i had when i was a baby:)

6 month appointment

Brody had his 6 month appointment today. He weighs 21 lbs 2 oz and is 29.5 inches long! once again in the 97th percentile for height and the 90th for weight. when the dr. came into to see him he was sitting up on the exam table and she said he is sitting up like a 9 month old which apparently is a big feat for such a big boy:)

Another big step for mommy

so this past weekend i did a big thing in the world of mommies....i let brody go spend the weekend away in richmond all by himself with meme and poppy. we had a really busy weekend and needed somebody to watch brody for most of it, so i thought it would be a great time to let brians parents get in some good brody time. brian performed his first wedding ceremony for jessie and bryan on saturday! it was a beautiful ceremony and we had tons of fun at the reception, and got to spend some time with parker and lindsay. it was nice not having to rush home to get him to bed or take him off somebody else's hands. we also got TONS done around the farm! we are still working at getting the horses there. the fence is almost finished!! FINALLY! brian has been working his butt off! and it was nice to be able to help him for 2 days. im so proud of everything brian has done! he has built our farm practically from scratch and now it is a beautiful horse farm! i know i have been rushing him to get the horses out there, but i have been literally waiting my whole life for the moment i could look out my back windows and see pastures with my horses in them! so needless to say im SO EXCITED!! the big day should be next weekend when he gets back from costa rica. YAY! anyways, my weekend away from brody wasnt as bad as i expected...i missed him like crazy, but i got alot done and had a great weekend with my hubby:) we got up early on sunday morning and went trail riding together...our favorite thing to do:) its been over a year since weve been able to ride together for a long period of time!

Sitting Up...All by myself!!

On wednesday, we got together with a bunch of my friends and their little ones. it was the first time we have ALL gotten together. There were about 7 of us there with our babies. Brody had his first experience in a baby pool and loved it!! i was telling the girls how i was ready for brody to start sitting up by himself, just so i can sit him somewhere and not have to put him in something or lay him on a blanket. Later, when we went inside i sat him on the floor and low and behold he started sitting up...just like that! it was crazy!! ever since then all he wants to do is sit up. he still has moments where he topples over, but for the most part he can do it all by himself!

Reaching

Brody has started reaching for EVERYTHING! its funny how things change overnight. now i cant have anything anywhere near him that i dont want him to grab! its fun though, because hes started reaching for US too. its impossible not to pick him up when you see those big blue eyes looking up and you and those arms reaching out!

So Many New Things....

Well we have been in our house for almost a week now. i LOVE it!!! Weve been unpacking like crazy...trying to find everything thats been in storage for 8 months now. Brody is doing so many new things!! Just in the past week he has started eating rice cereal, "talking" up a storm, and rolling over from his belly to his back!! The doctor told us that we could start feeding him rice cereal now. i wasnt going to start it yet, because i just thought it was one more thing to do! BUT Brody hasnt been sleeping good for about 3 weeks now.....at 3:30 every night he wakes up and cries and goes to sleep for 5 minutes and then wakes up and cries for a few minutes and goes back to sleep for 5 minutes. over and over again until 5 and then sleeps until 6:30 or so. I forgot how tiring it is to wake up 10 times a night! so i decided to start him on rice cereal to see if he would start sleeping better. he LOVED it!! it was like he was saying "this is what ive been waiting for, guys! what took you so long?" The first bite he looked at us, grinned and wanted more! AND after about 3 days of rice cereal 2x a day, hes been sleeping through the night again! YAY!! "Talking" has been his other new thing this week. He babbles on and on and has been blowing spit bubbles:) Today, he rolled over from his tummy to his back...i wasnt there unfortunately, but mom said he did it twice today!!! hes such a happy baby! he smiles ALL THE TIME!

Moving day..or night!

Last night we started the process of moving!! we got our "certificate of occupancy" yesterday and couldnt wait to move in! so last night as soon as everyone got off work we started loading up everything in our storage unit and at my parents house. we are so blessed with so many amazing friends that spent their friday night helping us out! we were at the house last night until almost 11 unpacking! and now i am about to head over there to do some more. we will be spending our first night there tonight! we probably wont have internet for awhile so it may be a while before i post again!:)

4 month checkup

Brody had his 4 month checkup and vaccinations today. the shots are never fun....but i love seeing how much hes grown since the last visit. Hes still in the 97th percentile for height and the 90th for weight! such a big boy! he weighs 18 lbs 6 oz and is 28 inches long.

BABY ANDREW IS HERE!!

Today i was reminded of the miracle of birth..... its definitely something that no matter how much you THINK you understand it before you give birth yourself, its something that is SO much more amazing after you have had a child. I went to visit natalie today in the hospital. This morning around 3 a.m., she gave birth to Andrew Ray Snuffin. What a sweet baby! It makes me SO excited to know that natalie has now entered mommyhood! It is by far the most amazing experience i think a woman can have....and i am so excited that natalie has now started this amazing journey!! words cant descibe what i felt today, watching one of my closest friends with her sweet little boy....only because i know how much she is going to fall in love with him! Congrats Natalie and Gary!!! Welcome to the wonderful world of being a parent....theres NOTHING like it!

A Gift from God

I am overwhelmed by God's blessings. He finds the craziest ways to bless us sometimes! our hardwood floors were put into our house last week. when we went to look at them i thought they looked a little lighter than what i had picked out. we didnt think anything of it, until our builder called and told us they had put the wrong floors in our house! our builder told us that the people would probably offer us some money, so they wouldnt have to pull the floors up and replace them. I told brian it would have to be a pretty big amount for me not to get the floors replaced. i like the floors that they put down...but it just made me a little mad that it wasnt what i had originally chosen. They gave us $4500 to keep the floors in!! I feel like the Lord had them put the wrong floors in, just to bless us with this extra money! Ive never been so happy about somebody making a mistake:) I think the Lord just loves to bless his children!

Big Step for Mommy

Today i took a big step...i finally sent brody to the nursery during church. i know some of you are thinking...."hes 4 months old, he should have been in the nursery weeks ago!" well, i havent been ready for that....i guess until today. Until about a month ago brody did great in the service...he usually slept through the whole thing. but hes passing that "sleepy baby" stage. if there is anything going on around him he wants to be awake and watching! we have a little room at church for nursing moms to take their babies to during the service. its got a one way glass where we can sit with our baby and watch the service. so for about the past month or two brody would make it through the worship time, being very quiet, and about the time the preaching would start, he would begin to get unhappy, so i would just go and sit with him in that room. But, its been getting harder and harder to concentrate on the service while im dealing with him too. So today, like always, his eyes popped wide open as soon as the preaching began, so off we headed to the nursery. i hadnt planned on taking him today, but it just happened! before i knew it i was dropping him off! they said he did really well though! so i guess this is a new part of his little life....nursery on sundays! my little boy is growing up....or I guess maybe mommy is!

Never ending battle

Brody and i are having a battle....over whether or not he is going to suck his fingers. im pretty sure that no child of a dental hygienist should suck their fingers! theres hardly a time that he isnt shoving his hands in his mouth, and hes finally found his fingers. the funny part is that hes been sucking his 2 middle fingers just like parker did when he was little! im not sure whos going to win this battle.....he thinks its so funny when you pull his fingers out of his mouth. he just laughs and puts them right back in there!

Blondie

when i got brody out of the bath yesterday, the sun was shining in just right.....i could see a head full of very blonde hair coming up under his dark hair (that has been falling out and has left him quite bald:) it looks like we are going to have a little blondie:) just like his mommy when she was little!

house update

i feel like the house progress is creeping along at this point! Everything is completely done except for hardwoods and carpet....but its still going to be 2 weeks before we move in. we are SO excited! im so ready to be organized again! half of our stuff is in storage and the other half is all over the place here at mom and dads. brian has been working so hard over the past few months to get everything ready for the horses to be able to move in too.....putting up fencing, building barns, seeding and fertilizing the pastures, pulling up trees....the list goes on and on. its been such hard work...but im so proud of him for everything hes done out there! it looks amazing! hopefully the horses will be able to be out there soon. i cant wait to sit on my back porch and look out and see them! ive had horses since i was 13 and they have never been on the same property as me...so im pretty excited:) heres a few new pictures.....the view from the barns looking at one of the pastures and the back of the house.....and that gorgeous stream is off the back of the land.

TARHEEL for life!!

Brody was born into a Tarheel family....i cant help it because i was born into one too! And seeing as we have been living with my family since he was born...which is pretty much all of basketball season....brody hasnt had a choice but to watch ALL of the games:) hes so cute sitting next to Pop Pop on the couch watching the tv. he really does love watching the games...his eyes are glued! i had to take a few pics of him in his tarheel gear:)


Hes really started "standing up" alot in the past 2 weeks. hes learning how to put weight on his legs and they are definitely getting stronger, because he can do it for longer each time. he also is not too far from sitting up on his own i think. its crazy how strong he is! last night he sat there by himself for probably 20 seconds or so before falling to the side. we did that for quite awhile last night:) he hasnt quite got the strength to sit straight...hes still hunched over. but he will learn!

Brody's Dedication

We went to richmond this weekend to visit brians family for easter. while we were there we also got to dedicate brody! We desire to raise brody in a Godly home where Christ is the center.... to be able to dedicate him in brians dads church was so special! we are so glad brians family was able to take part in such an important day! although brody has no idea what happened today, it is a promise from us a brody's parents to try to raise him to be a Godly man and to later in life hopefully accept him as his savior. We look forward to that day! we got to spend some time with brians sister and her husband, who are expecting their first baby in september! they havent seen him since christmas so hes definitely changed alot since then! we had a wonderful easter...and brody looked adorable in his easter outfit:)

Parker and lindsay's visit

parker and lindsay finally made it back down to see the little guy last weekend. it had been about 6 weeks since they had seen him last. he grows so fast... hes definitely more of a little boy now, instead of a baby. Brody had so much fun with them! it was great to spend some time with them again! they were here all summer so its definitely weird not having them around anymore. we all miss them like crazy! they are getting married on january 2nd...its strange to think brody will be toddling around then!

Its been awhile...

wow..im just realizing how long its been since ive posted anything. I guess, that means nothing huge has happened in the past few weeks. we are still waiting to move in to our new house. they are still painting...which has taken longer than i ever thought possible! the only things left are the floors, lighting and other little accessories:) we are getting there! Brody is doing great....growing like a weed and learning new things everyday. he is such a joy! we are starting to get in the swing of things....ive been back to work for over a month now. we have just about got our routine down pat! i do miss him like crazy when im gone though! until next time....

Playtime

Brody has been holding his head up so well lately that we decided he could probably spend some time in his exer-saucer! he loved it! he loves sitting up so much now! no more laying down in mommy's arms like a little baby...its kinda sad! He wants to be able to see all thats going on around him!

House Update

They installed the cabinets yesterday and should start painting next week!! we are coming down the home stretch...not too much longer now!

What you will do to get a good nights sleep.....

So last night was the first night Brody has slept all night in his crib all by himself. hes been sleeping through the night for awhile now, but its taken me doing some crazy things to get him to do it. For the first month or so of his life he slept in his car seat....that was the ONLY place he would sleep for any period of time longer than 2 hours! then we noticed that he really liked the pad we had on his changing table because it was so soft and it came up on both sides of him and made him feel a little more secure. So we put that in his crib and have been letting him sleep on that for the past month. Hes been starting to turn over on his side now though, so i obviously new that we would have to take the changing pad out really soon so he wouldnt roll off of it. When you start finally getting a good 8-9 hours of sleep at night for the first time in months, you really dont want to jinx anything or mess it up at all by changing ANYTHING! But last night i decided to bite the bullet and take the pad out... and low and behold, he slept from 10 last night until 7 this morning! So he is officially sleeping through the night without anything to help him out...in his crib, all by himself, like a big boy:) AND it happened on his 3 month birthday! Its hard to believe hes 3 months old already....we love him more and more everyday, if thats possible.

Changing Everyday

Its amazing how much Brody changes everyday! its like he just wakes up and decides that today he is going to try something new:) Today he all of a sudden decided to start actually playing with toys instead of just looking at them for their bright colors! he laid on his little playmat underneath his toys and starting hitting them and grabbing at them. It was so funny to see how much he had to concentrate to open up his hand and hold onto a toy! i could tell he was really proud of himself! He also starting rolling over on his side. He hasnt figured out how to roll over on his tummy yet, but im sure its only a matter of time!

Tummy Time

Brody is finally enjoying being on his tummy and looking around from a new perspective:) I make him have a little bit of tummy time everyday, but he usually gets so frusterated. Today he actually enjoyed it...you can tell by the adorable smile in the pictures!

First Day Back to Work

So yesterday was my first day back at work after 11 wonderful weeks off with Brody. I definitely didnt know how much i would miss him! i worked a 12 hour day yesterday...so this was definitely the longest i have been without him. I am so glad that my job is very busy..i dont know what i would do if i was just sitting around at a desk all day. I think it would be much harder! i dont have time to think about anything else at work really. when i got home, i held brody for about 4 hours straight! im definitely going to miss him alot when im at work, but i am SO thankful that my mom is taking care of him! theres no way i could leave him with a stranger....i know with my mom that he is in the best hands besides mine. I am also so thankful for the time we have been living with mom and dad. Mom knows brody almost as well as i do because hes been in her house since the day he came home from the hospital. she knows what is normal for him and what is not...it makes me feel 100% confident that he wont need anything while im away from him!

2 month checkup

Today we finally made it in for his 2 month checkup. He was supposed to have it 2 weeks ago, but he was in the hospital with RSV on the day that he turned 2 months old. The pediatrician wanted us to wait until he was completely well before he had his vaccines. Today he had his vaccines done...poor baby. He was also weighed and measured. He weighed in at a wopping 14 lbs 9 oz. making him in the 90 percentile for weight. and he measured 25 inches long making him in the 97 percentile for heighth! His head measured 44 cm (70 percentile). So all that means is hes a big boy:) Thankfully his height and weight are proportionate :)

Sleeping Through the Night!!

we are on night #5 of sleeping through the night! WOO HOOO!! now, by sleeping through the night, i mean...still getting up a few times to put the paci back in his mouth:) but believe me getting to be in my bed for 8 straight hours without getting up to feed the little man is wonderful!! hes even been sleeping in his crib for the past few nights too! im trying to get ready for him sleeping in his own room which is a little farther away in our new house:) pray that he keeps it up!! im going back to work on tuesday...so hopefully he will be nice to mommy and let her get some sleep since im going to be working along with being a full time mommy:)

More Pics of our New Farm

Heres some of the latest pictures of our new farm!

our new home

well our new home is really coming along! its finally starting to look like a house! they are working on the drywall this week and then they will start to install of the "fun stuff"....cabinets, hardwood floors, carpet, etc. we are so excited to about our new home! although, it has been absolutely WONDERFUL living with my parents these past few months! im not going to know what to do when i have to start cooking and cleaning again! mom and dad have been so great to us! we should be moving in hopefully early-mid march!