Randoms from the Past Month

1. Gavin is one busy boy.

He's into everything.

Everything being the dog food bowl, the kitchen drawers, the toilet, the dog kennel, Mom's bathroom drawers (of course not Dad's drawers because tampons and breast pads are way more fun to play with and throw around than anything in Dad's drawer...) and pretty much anything else within his reach.

He loves to walk behind his little walker toy, but he has yet to master the art of "turning around", which means every 10 seconds he's hit a new obstacle and needs Mom to turn him around.

Need I say anymore?

This kid keeps me busy, all day, every day.

2. Fourth of July was AWESOME!

Again, the day did not go as Mom & Dad had planned- Gavin put his own little spin on our plans.

Long story short- Gavin would not go to sleep for his afternoon nap at my parents house, so we drove all the way home for Gavin to sleep. Being the little stinker that he is, as soon as we got home and he was in his crib he slept for over 2 hours.

Once he woke up, we went out to my Aunt & Uncle's for some yummy 4th of July food, then headed over to my parents for some swimming and a bonfire with just our immediate family (my parents, siblings and nieces & nephews)! 

I had about 4 s'mores and probably 4 burnt marshmallows (there's nothing better than a black, burnt to a crisp marshmallow if you ask me...) maybe more, I honestly didn't keep track, but it was the first time that I felt sick from eating so many marshmallows... Maybe it's just 'cause I'm getting old...?

We kept Gavin up about 2 hours past his bedtime, but he was happy as can be! He loved the sparklers and the fireworks! It was a super fun night :) 

Much different than past 4th of July's...but that's to be expected with a baby.

3. We're Making Friends that are at the Same Stage in Life as We Are.

This is probably lame to some people who just happened to go through the new life stages (marriage, kids...etc.) at the same time as all of their friends.

But for Aaron and I, it's a big friggin' deal.

Aaron is roughly 10 years older than me...so for him, a lot of his friends have been married and already have older children.

For me, I was the first one in my group of friends to get married and have a baby.

We literally had zero of the same friends that were at the same point in life as we are.

FINALLY, we've had some other friends that have gotten married, and have recently had little munchkins of their own.

It's great having those few people to confide in, and realize, "ok, so we're not the only ones whose lives have drastically changed because of a baby". 

(no, everyone's lives drastically change once they have a baby...some are just better at hiding it than others)

4. DON'T CREATE A NIGHT FEEDING HABIT!!!

If there is one piece of advice I would give to someone regarding older babies and sleeping... 

it would be this:

DO NOT CREATE A NIGHT WAKING HABIT!! 

What do I mean by that? 

Well, we had a baby that was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. He was a great sleeper- until he hit about 6-7 months old. Whether it was teething or a growth spurt- he just hasn't been as good of a sleeper. About a month ago (so Gavin was about 9-10 months old) when he would wake up in the middle of the night- we started just feeding him. Aaron would bring him into bed with us, I would breastfeed him for no more than 15 minutes, and we would have a precious sleeping baby again. Aaron would go lay him back down in his crib- and voila. A super easy way to get our baby back to sleep.

NO!!! NO!!!! NO!!!!!! 

Don't do it, unless you're fine with waking up numerous times every night for who knows how long, weeks...months....who knows!

We finally realized once he was waking up a couple times every night, that this had to end.

We realized WE created a nasty habit.

Instead of being able to soothe himself back to sleep- Gavin was used to snuggling up next to Mom in bed and getting a nice full tummy.  

It was a couple nights of hell, trying to get him back to sleep without feeding him. LOTS of crying, and very little sleep for Aaron and I... no wonder we went through so much coffee lately...

We just started this process 4 nights ago. The first two nights were the rough ones. The past two nights he's slept through the night without making a peep... so I guess we're crossing our fingers that this nasty night waking phase is over!

Gavin recreating what I must have looked like
those couple days- FACE IN THE COFFEE CUP!!

5. Planning a 1 Year Old's Birthday!!

This one comes with mixed emotions!

I'm so excited for Gavin's birthday, because I love planning, and decorating for parties!

I've got all sorts of fun ideas, and honestly have been thinking about this day since Gavin was about 6 months old!

At the same time, my heart hurts a little because I'm realizing how fast my baby is growing up.

I honestly can't believe it's been almost 1 year since he was born.

WHAT the WHAT?! How is that possible!?

I can remember every part of that night spent in labor, and that morning when he was born like it happened yesterday! 

Wow, cue the emotional mommy sappiness, right?!

(see the benefit of having other "mom" friends is when we start talking like this, and I realize I'm not the only mom who thinks this way!...much to my husband's surprise!)

6. Hope You Are Enjoying Your Summer!!!

Bonfires, fishing trips, ice cream, s'mores, sunshine, beaches, lakes, suntans, country music...

I hope you're enjoying it all like we are!