6 months!!!

today is my baby boys 6 month birthday! wow...time has flown by, but then when i think back to sitting up in my cave (my room), pumping and feeding and pumping and feeding, it seems like a really long time ago. my dear, we have come a long way. 

wyatt, you changed us. you made this little family of three and family of four. you made this mother love another son, and i am so thankful to love on so many boys!! you humbled us and many people around you. you have shown us that we don't need to be scared about the unknown sometimes, that we can trust and you will do just fine. you make anyone around you smile and that is a fact. i am so proud to be your mother. proud that you have shown people that a cleft isn't something to be scared of. i'm proud when a child might stare at you a little longer and i get to explain that you were born this way. that's the thing. i get to explain. i get to teach others. i get to inform and educate people about something i never in my life thought i would be explaining to others and i am thankful.

you have a journey, my little 6 month old. you have already come so far. the next 6 are going to be a bit rough for you, but again, i am counting on you to surprise me like you have before. my heart bursts for you my little wyatt. i love love love love love you!!!

 some things about you at 6 months:

• you are thisclose to crawling. scooting around and doing tons of 360s
• you are very ticklish! from your neck to your toes - you brother is the same way!
• you stick you whole fist in your mouth to comfort yourself. literally, the whole fist.
• you love your brother and get very excited when he comes close to you
• you are sleeping through the night again! woot! 7-7!
• you have had the throw up bug, croup and an ear infection that didn't get better for 14 days all in 6 months.
• you have only traveled in NC - to greensboro and fayetteville
• you put anything and everything into your mouth. great. you are probably going to be like sutton barksdale - that chick ate wood chips at the playground!
• you are eating solids bit by bit....we are taking it slow
• you aren't blowing raspberries, etc because you can't until your lips are closed.
• you only laugh out loud when tickled and excited. BUT, always give a huge grin to anyone who comes up to you, or at anything that makes you happy.
• you get very excited when you see the bottle and sit up and hold it - i just wish you could squeeze it, then we would be smooth sailin!
• you aren't sitting up yet, crawling is closer than this
• you are a cuddler
• the only times you cry are when you are starving and not feeling well, otherwise, you are a great baby. well, you cried a lot in the night when you were "sleep training" and when you were sick. a lot.
• you are right at 15 pounds and 27 inches long
• you are attached at my hip and i wouldn't have it any other way!

big brother at 6 months - a tad chunkier and in this pic, you don't look so much alike as people say...

half a year down and many many more to go!

we love you my sweet boy!!

\happy 6 months ;)

preparation

jack and i went away this past weekend for the first time since having two kids and actually for the first time for 2 nights in forever. wyatt didn't sleep that great for my parents or his sitter, so i took him back to the doctor monday to re-check his ears and go over a few other things that i/we have noticed.

#1. sometimes when he sleeps in his carseat/swing, he turns a bit "dusky"

2. when he is excited and kicking his legs, he sounds like he has striders a bit.

i always thought that was his coloring and the sounds were his "normal" with the palate. 

my mom was concerned, so we brought these things up to the dr.

when she heard the "dusky" color, she thought we should go to the hospital overnight to monitor his oxygen. 

finally i was going to get some answers. i started crying not because i was scared, but because i was relieved. i have worried about him sleeping from day one. i just had a hard time when he woke at night because i didn't know if he was okay. was he breathing okay with the cleft? so, i put him in my bed. i needed this. i needed to see if everything was OKAY with him.

so, i packed up and we headed to Levine at 2pm Monday.

 this was him with the PA. he charmed everyone there. it was laughable! every nurse/doctor that came into the room just was pudy in his hands once he flashed that smile!

 ET phone home

he slept great and all his stats were good. on tuesday afternoon, we napped him upright and again, stats were good. they did see the coloring (half vampire?), but all you could go on was his oxygen and heart, which were perfect. AWESOME. his chest x-ray, clear. blood work, fine. i wasn't worried. i was again, relieved. glad to know that when he cries, he isn't waking up because he can't catch a breath. 

next step: see an ENT to look in his throat for the striders sound. can be cleft related because he doesn't have the same anatomy as us, or could be a smaller airway. we shall see.

all in all, this was good for me. 

i stepped into the hospital where we will be for surgeries. i liked it.

i slept there and now i know what i will need for march.

i saw wyatt in this hospital crib. saw him being wheeled down the halls. i am more prepared.

for me, i like to see things and take it all in. this was good for me.

i met nurses, i felt comfortable there. i know i won't leave his side for a second. i know i will be ready to go home when he is ready. 

this was good for me. 

preparation!

rainy days go away!

i swear, it has been raining forever! it might just be for 4 days, but it feels like weeks! getting both kids in and out of the car, to and from places is not fun. this morning it was raining so hard, i gave up. i let lawton stay home from school and we have just chilled out. it has been so nice not to have to go anywhere, get anyone dressed, take showers and pick up from school, etc, etc.

 lawton getting wyatt up from his morning nap

 silly boys!

 wyatt has had his first ear infection....so typical, right when you get them sleeping through the night and on a "routine" something like this happens. we went to the dr friday because he just didn't seem right and i wanted them to check his ears just in case. i high fived myself (i seriously did), when she said he had the beginning of an ear infection. amoxicillion here was come. then tuesday rolled around and we went back to the dr. he still had the ear infection, so now on to augmenten. today he seems a lot better and will actually lay down in his crib to sleep. 

oh, and check out this new face-- trips me out!! looks like a man with dentures ;)

 whaaaad you say?

hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow - we are OVER it!

Friday Funday

TGIF means so much more with 2 kids! ;)

since i am taking a break from working to tend to wyatt's needs this year, fridays can't come soon enough!

when our kids aren't sick and we don't have any plans, you can find us at libby's or the barksdales at our house. we switch each time. it's our Friday Funday and we start talking about it...Monday.

requirements : champagne has to be chilled and you have to feed the children.

this friday, we hosted and had WAY too good of a time. we haven't been able to do this in weeks, so we went all out!

 playroom destroyed=good time

 "baby sutton" in colbie's bed. she is no longer the baby anymore and has been replaced by "baby wyatt" as the baby of the group! they are one year apart. i can't believe wyatt will be this big in just a year...

 libby and wyatt

 the "babies"

 silly sisters!

this is when it started to get a little crazy. the husbands came over from having a few beers themselves and i think we had done some damage to the champagne. 

lawton started teaching BG all about super heroes. the first time he had the mask on earlier in the night, she ran with her arms up screaming like a damsel in distess, by the end of the night, she was spiderwoman ;)

 see? i told you! i love something to look forward too!

 champagne spills, buzz all laid out, toys everywhere. good party.

as you can see, the parents were a little selfish in wanting to catch up, so all the kids were up a little too late. sutton was not happy, betsy grace was ready for a sleepover, wyatt and lawton were along for whatever. the girls were in lawton's PJ's, and wyatt's diaper is popping out of his pj's. fun night wouldn't you say?!

can't wait until the next FF!

solids- check! crib- check!

 we started eating solids about 10 days ago and it has gone okay! i was wondering how wyatt would do with his cleft, but he was moving his tongue around just like he should. a few nights, he has started to cry while feeding. it might be burning, it might be frustration, but last night he had green beans and liked them!

 give it to me mama!

 as you can see it is VERY messy. VERY. so funny, lawton refused to wear a bib and wasn't too messy. this kid, i need to buy stock in bibs!

clean and happy!

so many new things in just a few days. 

baptism, solids, AND crib time! we moved wyatt out of our room.....finally! i was ready. he was ready. Jack was really ready ;) after 2 nights of crying it out and a hoarse voice, he is down at 7:30 and not up until 7:30. well, that is how is has gone for a few days anyway--i know every night is different, but it's PROGRESS!!

smile pinki

i sit here on a saturday night, staring at the computer uploading pictures of my life from my camera.

and every time i come across a picture of wyatt, i cry.

i'm so scared.

every day that passes is a day where february looms.

surgery is around the corner.

i am going to be a basket case. hell, i already am.

i don't want to lose this gummy smile. his cleft smile. the one He gave him.

i want what is best for him. he needs this done. he HAS to have it done. it is important and crucial for him. but i am a mom in love with this face.

i need strength because i don't have it right now.

i know this sounds selfish.

 

tonight i watched a documentary, Smile Pinki about a 5 year old in india that had this surgery done. she is beautiful before and after. if you have about 35 minutes (yeah right! we are all busy!) and want to watch, i would.

it brought me to tears. i saw wyatt in all of those kids.

http://vimeo.com/6172785

 

do me a favor. next time you see a child with a cleft or any "birth defect" as people call it (which i hate), give them and their mother a big smile. when someone smiles at wyatt, i turn to mush. mush i tell you!

 



WWH Baptism 12.30.12

sunday was a beautiful day. the sun was out, it was a perfect day to be baptised.

the night before was long. wyatt was up most of the night, for reasons unknown to me, maybe the cough, hungry, who knows, but i was tired. very, very tired.

my friend libby texted me that morning about it being so gorgeous outside and what a great day for a baptism. i wrote back something along the lines of being tired and maybe a bit stressed getting everyone ready in time. the last 2 days had been crazy - unpacking, taking down the tree, cleaning house, etc.

she wrote back :

"you need to just clear your mind and think about what a blessing that little boy is. stand up there today and look at that whole congregation as they promise to love him and spiritually encourage him. let today renew yo, not stress you out, you want to remember this moment in his life"

whew! talk about change in my attitude! it was just the thin i needed to hear to get my mind back in perspective.

from that moment on, my smile arose, my attitude changed and you know what? it was the perfect morning.

 

two of my handsome men

when we got to the church, all of our family was waiting on us. we sat in the front row as a family of four and proudly showed our sons to the congregation. i watched the women in the choir faces when the minister was talking to us, and they were staring at wyatt with huge grins, which warmed my heart. when he took wyatt from me to baptize him, wyatt grinned his famous grin and he said "well, look at that grin!", i started crying then. he took him down the aisle and showed everyone our beautiful son, and i couldn't hold it together. i just remember watching him with tears in my eyes, feeling like my heart was going to burst. jack put his arm around me, lawton was holding my hand and my wyatt was getting baptised. i was one very proud mother. i told jack that night that my two proudest moments in my life where baptizing lawton and wyatt. hands down.

 

 i was so proud of how lawton handled everything...he held my hand, sat quietly and was such a bog boy. he made me laugh a few times by whispering "what that? - to the organ music and "where is it coming from?" then i had tissues and he said "those gummies?" in a whisper - i almost got the giggles where you can't stop, maybe nervousness? anyway, he was just the perfect big brother.

 

 

after the sermon, we all came back to the house for some Brunswick stew and cornbread (thank you mom!!!) and cake.

 the brown family - move to charlotte!

 the man of teh hour with his mimi

 wyatt with cousin emily

 the oxendine family

 uncle carl and my dad

such a proud uncle ;)

and that he did...;) thank you Lord for bringing this beautiful boy to us!! we are forever indebted to you...