Friday Fun Day

Jon an I were off today for the holiday weekend so we took advantage of the beautiful warm weather. We went to the neighborhood pool, ate wings for dinner at our favorite little restaurant and took Beau to Kid Venture near our house. We had a great day! 

May 22, 2014 One Year Later

Last night Jon and I could not stop talking about what we were doing this time last year. The night before I was induced we spend our time making sure we were packed, the car seat was by the door, our baby’s bag was packed, we ate a good dinner, relaxed on the couch and were in bed by 10pm. I was not sure I would sleep well knowing that I was having a baby the next day but we both ended up sleeping great. My alarm went off at 4am and I literally jumped out of bed and got into the shower. I don’t think I had gotten up that fast in the past 9 months. We both got showers, dressed and were out the door by 4:40am and on our way to the hospital to be induced. I was 39 weeks and ready to have this baby! It was still dark outside and no one was on the streets so we made it to Huntsville Hospital in about 15 minutes. We parked close to the door, passed a Starbucks in the lobby, walked up to the second floor and checked in with the nurse at the desk. We were the only people checking in so we got our arm bands right away and had a seat in the waiting room. We both “checked in” on Facebook to tell our friends and family we had made it to the hospital and we both let out a sigh of relief that we were finally here. We waited about 10 minutes for our nurse to come get us and then followed her to the birthing room. We put our bags on the table, I changed into a gown, Jon settled onto the couch while I crawled onto the hospital bed and the nurse started drilling us BOTH with every question in the book about our health. After Jon answered all this questions he was free to go get a BIG cup of coffee from the downstairs Starbucks and he could hardly wait to get a little caffeine in him. I answered a ton more questions for about ten minutes then the nurse hooked me up to all kinds of monitors and wires. She made sure she had the baby’s heartbeat and mine on the monitor so she could make sure we were both ok at all times. Once I was hooked up then she started the Pitocin, let it drip then left the room. Jon quickly came back after that and we had the best time together. He sprawled out on the couch while I sat in the bed and we talked, laughed, checked Facebook, texted our family and enjoyed the morning news. I did not feel a thing. Around noon his parents came to the hospital to see us and stay for the rest of the day. They hung out with us in our room and in the lobby. My parents left mobile about 6am that morning so they were on I65 heading north to see us! My parents and brother arrived around 2 and hung out with us also in our room until it was GO TIME! We also had our friends Clara, Rachel and Bubba come to the hospital to see us so that was so fun! Once the pressure was too much everyone left the room and around 3:54 our little man came into this world. We did not find out what we were having so we were in shock that a boy came out because everyone thought it was going to be a girl. We were in love from the very second we met him! BEAU WILKINS REYNOLDS came out weighting 8 pounds and 11 ounces. He was finally with us and we were overjoyed! Life was just beginning as we became a family of three and we were so proud! Check recent posts to see more details about the day and our hospital stay.

This year has been an adventure. We have had the best time watching Beau grow and have loved every single milestone that he has reached. So back to today, May 22, 2014……Jon and I both have to work so we wake up around 5:30am. I sneak in Beau’s room to get a picture of him sleeping then more of him when he wakes up. We put on his birthday hat and he actually likes it. We give him a few little gifts, take more pictures, give him breakfast then we are off to work and he is off to Mrs. Pats. We have a long Memorial Day weekend so we plan on celebrating with him all weekend. We are throwing a birthday party for him at our house the following Saturday on May 31^st so he will have his real party then with our friends and family. We are so proud our little man and so happy to call him ours!

1 Week Aways From 1

We are in the home stretch and I cannot believe my baby boy will be 1 years old next week. I am excited and sad all at the same time. Jon and I have enjoyed every single day with our little nugget and we cannot believe how far we ALL have come this past year. Today I was sitting at work just thinking about this time last year so I scrolled back on my calendar on my computer to see what I was up to at this time. I love looking back to see what was going on because this time last year was one of the most exciting and scary times of my life.

So today, last year, I was going to my final doctor’s appointment at 11am with Dr. Tallent. This appointment was the most exciting one because we were going to talk about our plan for the upcoming week. At this point I was 38 weeks pregnant, feeling great, growing like crazy, had gained 25 pounds, no swelling, packing my hospital bag and enjoying our last few days just the 2 of us. Jon came with me to the doctor for this appointment because he was just as excited to hear the plan. Dr. Tallent checked me out and I was 2cm dilated which was good news. He gave me the option to be induced or to wait until the baby came naturally. He guessed that the baby was around 7 pounds so it was really up to us on how we wanted this all to happen. I did not hesitate at all and said I wanted to be induced. I am such a planner and this was going to allow my family to come up to Huntsville for the birth. They had a 6 hour drive so getting them to the hospital on time was very important to me. Dr. Tallent thought the idea sounded great so we scheduled the induction for Wednesday of the following week. He wanted me to come in the office to get my “final” check on Tuesday before so he could make sure I am still continuing to dilate. When we left the doctor we called our parents and told them the plan. They were ecstatic and started planning their work weeks around being at the hospital with us on Wednesday. My mom is a teacher so she had end her school year a few days early and find a substitute to fill in for her. We had planned for her to stay with us for at least a week after we came home so mom had to pack her bags for a long time. My dad and brother took off work on Wednesday and they planned to drive up early on Wednesday morning. Jon’s parents live in Huntsville so they made plans to be at the hospital with us on Wednesday and they could not wait! Everyone was relieved that we had a “plan” and arrival date of our little unknown baby. I think not finding out what we were having really added to the excitement. Everyone except for my brother thought it was going to be a girl, Jon and I included! You can read the rest of the story in my recent posts if you are interested in what happens next.

Mixed into all this excitement is Jon’s birthday. We really did not want our baby to be born on his birthday because we wanted everyone to have their own days. We were very happy to know that he/she would be born two days later. So Jon turned 31 years old last year and he got the ultimate birthday gift just two days later, a beautiful son!

This year we are celebrating both of their birthday’s next week. Jon’s is on Tuesday and Beau’s is on Thursday. We are planning Beau’s First Birthday Party to be on Saturday, May 31^st at our house with close friends and family. I have been cleaning, planning, making decorations, ordering things like crazy for this special day. I cannot wait to celebrate our precious little boy in a few days. What a wonderful blessing he is to our family and I am so proud to call him mine!

My First Mother's Day

This was my first Mother's Day and I have to say that it might have been one of the best weekends ever. It could have been equal or better than my birthdays have been. Jon went into Mother's Day weekend with a plan to be as nice as possible, spoil me and give me the most thoughtful gift imaginable. Friday night we both took Beau with us to eat wings which has recently been our favorite Friday night go-to dinner spot. There is a great wings place near our house and it is a dump but has some of the best wings we have ever eaten. It is funny how some of the dumpiest hole in the wall restaurants have some of the best food. After we ate we went to rent a Redbox movie then headed home. We are always on Beau’s sleep schedule so we do not stay out late on weekend nights anymore unless Beau is at his grandparents’ house. Beau’s bedtime is between 6-7pm so that is our limit for being out. Once we got home we put Beau to bed and we started the movie and vegged out on the couch. It was a great relaxing start to the weekend.

Saturday started out by Jon letting me sleep in which he got up with Beau. That is always a treat because Beau wakes up between 6-6:30 on the weekends so there is no sleeping in at our house. I slept until around 7:30 then joined the guys in the living room for coffee and breakfast. We made our plans for the day and took showers. Jon needed to do a little work so Beau and I went to Walmart and got food for Mother’s Day lunch on Sunday. It was fun getting out with Beau. He really enjoys watching all the people at Walmart. Once we got home and unpacked the car Beau ate some food then went down for a nap. He only slept 30 minutes so that allowed time for me to unpack the car and put the groceries away. By this time Jon was finished with is work and he surprised me with my Mother’s Day gift. Last week he asked me what I wanted so said anything you want to give me but if you give me flowers I want to be able to plant them. I just hate when he spends money on flowers that die in a few days. I like to enjoy things for a little longer. So Jon showed up with a blackberry vine plant and a blue berry bush which was the most thoughtful gift in my eyes. We have been talking about putting some fruit plants along our back fence and this will be perfect because they will produce fruit every year. I have a very thoughtful husband!

 After the gift reveal we piled in the car and headed off to Lowe’s. When we moved into our house last year I was 7 months pregnant so we did not spend time or money on our yard. Jon did good cutting the grass every two weeks because we were getting use to our new life with a baby. This year we decided we were going to spend some time and money on our yard to make it look great for Beau’s 1^st birthday party. So we went to Lowe’s, piled 2 carts sky high with things like mulch, plants, flowers, plant food, etc. Beau enjoyed every second of our time at Lowe’s. He loved shopping outside in the garden center and seeing all the people.

On our way home Jon stopped at one of my most favorite places in the world which is a snowcone hut! He got me a cotton candy snow cone and it sure made my heart sing! He really knows how to spoil me!

Once we got home we unloaded the car and got to work. The first thing we needed to do was mow the yard. I raised my hand and said I would do that so Jon could rest up before our big afternoon. He always does so much more than I do in the yard so it was only fair to let him rest and watch Beau while I mowed, plus I actually find mowing relaxing.

I cut the back yard and then we put the mulch out in the front flower beds and some on the side. This sure made our house look amazing and very updated. It is crazy how a little mulch can make your plants look so good. That was a great suggestion by my hubs! After that we added a new garden next to our fence for all of our vine plants and put some lattice up on the fence for the plants to grown on. Then we planted some rose bushes and Jon planted my Mother’s Day gifts. By this point our yard looked amazing. We had worked so hard and spent some money making it look like we wanted it to. Beau followed us around all day and “help” by making us laugh and spending time with us. It was a fun family day and I could not have asked to do it with anyone else. By this point were all in need of a bath so Beau was the first one up. He was the stinkiest little boy when he got into the tub but came out clean as a whistle. He went to bed with no issue and slept late on Sunday.

Sunday was Mother’s Day and it was a glorious day. Once again Jon got up with Beau so I could sleep in. We all snuggled on the couch, ate breakfast and had our coffee until it was time to get moving. We were having the Reynolds over for a late lunch so we had clean the house, make the food, set the table and make sure Beau had a nap. We all took showers and Jon entertained Beau while I started cleaning and cooking. Beau went down for a three hour nap so we got a ton of stuff done. By the time the Reynolds got to our house around 1:45 we had everything done and were sitting down. I set the table with my grandmother’s china and it looked beautiful.

We had a great time together and loved catching up with everyone. The Reynolds left around 4 and we spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the couch. I was sad to see the weekend end because it was truly one to remember. I know I am loved and I know that people appreciate me which makes me happy.

10 & 11 Months Old

I feel as though I need to combine these months because nothing really changed from one to the other. Don’t get me wrong, a lot has happened in the terms of development with Beau but I thought I could capture the changes all at once.

We went to the doctor and he weighs 23 pounds and 30 inches long at his most recent sick visit. He had a cold which was much more tolerable than those horrible ear infection. Here are some highlights from the past few months:

 Sleep- Beau is a rockstar when it comes to sleeping. He really should be every baby’s prime example. He is a stickler for his 6-6:30pm bedtime and we don’t waver too far from this or else we are in for a miserable child. Jon and I both agree that sleep is one of the most important things in Beau’s life right now as he is growing so fast. When he was really small I read the Baby Wise book because I prayed I would have a good sleeper and everything seemed to turn out just like I had hoped. He sleeps at least 12 hours a night and does not wake up in the middle of the night. He will sometimes let out a noise but most of the time it is while he is sleeping so I guess he is having a good dream. He is such a happy boy in the mornings. He will play in his crib until one of us gets him out and he does not cry for us. He has known to play up to an hour in his crib in the mornings without making one sour sound. One of his new tricks is to stand up and push the button to turn on his mobile which plays soft music. It is so cute to watch on the monitor. When we go in his room to get him he will stand up and smile at us. He is always happy to see us! This is heaven for me because I am someone who needs at least 8 hours of sleep at night. 

 Naptime- Beau still takes one really good nap every day around 10:30-11am. He loves to nap and will let you know when it is time so lay down by sucking on his two fingers or he will get to the point where nothing makes him happy.

 Eating- Beau is not a picky eater at all and he loves pretty much everything we give him. Some of his favorites are mandarin oranges, cheese toast, pancakes, pasta, rolls, avocado, diced carrots and apples, cheese and graham crackers. We still feed him the stage 3 purred baby food at night and he will eat two to three containers. I have been making all of his food for lunch at Mrs. Pats so all she has to do is get it out of the freezer. I will puree sweet potatoes with carrots or eggplant-corn and squash combos. For fruit I make apples and pears with cinnamon or pureed mixed fruit. He loves it all!

Clothes-Beau is getting taller and not getting as full which is associated with all the crawling and pulling up he is doing. So he has moved onto the 18 month clothes size. The weather is very warm so he is wearing a lot of onesies that have little shorts which is easy for dressing in the morning. He has started fighting us when we change him so in order to distract him we give him something to play with. We have to be quick to change him or he will squirm around and it is like fighting a bear. We still don’t put shoes on him because there is really no reason to. He will take them right off and he is not walking around yet.  

Diapers-Beau is still wearing the #3 diapers. Our favorites are Swaddlers by Pampers because they don’t leak…ever! We put the “nighttime” diapers on him when he goes to bed and they hold everything in all night. We don’t ever deal with diaper rashes so the diapers must be doing their job!

Crawling- Beau is crawling on all 4’s and gets around the house fast! He can crawl from one side of the house to the other and loves having the freedom to explore. He like to follow Lilly dog around and laughs when he gets close to her tail. It is precious to watch! He will crawl and pull up on everything. He does not like to be locked in the front room anymore because he wants his freedom to explore the house. 

Standing-Beau’s loves to pull up and stand. He loves to walk around the coffee table by holding on. His favorite game is “Where is Beau”. He will squat down and we will say “where is Beau” then he will stand up and laugh and we say “there he is” then he will squat down again. He things it is so funny and we do too. He can stand up on his own for about 1 second before falling down but we are working on that. He is not walking yet but I am sure he will in the next few months. 

Coordination-Beau has great coordination and I feel the crawling is helping out his motor skills. He is having to move his body to make himself crawl so his brain has to think about it fast. He can catch a rolling ball and will toss it back to us. He can pick up a puzzle piece and try to put it back in its place. He loves ball and eggs and will spend a lot of time trying to close the eggs. Most recently he has been trying to put our shoes on our feet and our water bottle tops on our bottle. He is so smart and is starting to realize little things like where tops and shoes go. He is catching on fast!

Babbling-Beau has his own language. He will point and say “guh” to almost everything he sees, all day. He will babble and carry on his own conversation for a long time while he plays or rides in the car. He has started mimicking things we say like the clean-up song. I will sing “clean-up, clean-up, everybody clean-up” and he will sound out the tune. He can say Bella which is Mrs. Pat’s little dog and he can say “momma and dada” really well. He loves to talk so I think he will be a big talker.

Socialization- Beau is a baby who never meets a stranger and loves everyone. He will go to anyone who will hold him and will study their face. When he gets around people he does not know, he will stay quiet and not make a sound. He will watch people to see what they do and give them a smile. When he is in a group of kids he will sit by himself and watch all the other kids before playing with them. He observes everything going on around him and will slowly warm up to the situation. He is super sweet when playing with other kids and never cries.

Bath-Beau still loves his bath. He will crawl around the tub on all 4’s reaching for toys. He loves to put his hand under the running water and laugh. He has found the silver drain circle on the tub and I guess he sees himself because he will point and smile. He will get really close to it to see if someone is in there. It is too cute. He has started pulling up and standing on the side of the tub so we have to remind him to sit on his bottom. He loves to see the bubbles floating on the water and will try to pinch one. He plays with his bath toys and just truly loves his time in the water. He never cries is water gets in his face or in his eyes. He does not mind me washing his hair or his body. He is also very good when we get him out of the tub to dry him off. He will lay back and let us dry him off then go put on his PJ’s. He could not be more cooperative. We still dress him in footed PJ’s for bed because we don’t want him to get too cold from the AC at night. He will snuggle up to his blankets but we still don’t want him to be too cold.

Walks-Beau loves to go for walks around the neighborhood in his wagon or in the stroller. He enjoys looking around at the houses, birds, people, dogs, etc. that come our way. He smiles and laughs and just enjoys life. He really enjoys being outside so he does not care how long we walk. Most of the time we bring Lilly along with us and Beau likes to watch Lilly bark at the birds or just explore out in front of us. It is a joy to have my two “kids” walking with us.  

Car-Beau does pretty well in the car but it is not his favorite place to be. He is all about his freedom and really does not enjoy being strapped down. He does not cry much in the car but occasionally will whine. He will suck his fingers and look outside so he enjoys looking around. He is still facing backwards and will stay that way for a while.

 Outside- I think the biggest change of all has been his love for the outdoors. He will point at the door and say “guh” which might mean “go” but we all know that he wants to go explore. He will crawl around the concrete and then crawl off the patio into the grass and take off towards our garden. He does not care at all that the grass is prickly or the concrete is hard. He just enjoys being outside. He whines when he take him inside. The other weekend Jon and I decided we were going to Lowes to get some gardening stuff and we came home with two carts full of stuff. We spend the entire day out in the warm weather updating our yard by planning flowers, more veggies, putting up lattice work for plants, spreading out mulch, cutting the grass, weed eating and feeding plants. We had Beau out there with us the entire time and he loved every second. The he was the stinkiest he has ever been when I gave him a bath that night and he slept in the next morning. He is a trooper when it comes to being outside. 

Overall, Beau is a perfect child in our eyes. He is so easy going, does not cry unless he is hungry or tired, loves everyone, sleeps well, eats a lot, will entertain himself, does not have to have people around him at all times and of course the most precious baby boy you have ever seen! His blond hair and blue eyes and chubby cheeks will melt your heart and I think he is just beautiful. His personality mixed with his looks is just perfection. His first birthday is coming up in a few days and we cannot believe we will have a 1 year old in our house. Let the adventures continue!