Micah's first half birthday!!

Well our little man turned 6 months on Dec 4, and we had to have his first half birthday celebration! It was a great time, and I know he will remember it forever! Check out our video document of the special day!

Sitting up

It seems we may have reached another milestone....Micah is sitting up! He has been practicing for about a month now, but it started as him folding himself in half because he didn't have the back strength to sit up straight. Then he learned to sit up straight but he kept falling side to side and backwards, but now he is doing really well sitting all by himself! We even put him in the shopping cart instead of his infant seat the other day and he did perfectly!

He is still a little wobbly, but I definitely think we can consider this his sitting up milestone. Here's a little video preview....

High Five

This is so weird, but I always ask kids to give me a high five whenever I see them. Lots of kids know what that means, but some kids look at me like I'm crazy. So I have always been trying to teach Micah to give me five whenever we are playing. He usually grabs my hand and tries to put it in his mouth, but lately he has been thinking it is hilarious when I grab his arm and make his hand hit mine. It's so cute. But last night, he just randomly started hitting his dad's hand like he was giving him five, and he has never done that before, so I had to get it on video this morning because it is so adorable! He's so brilliant :)

Micah's first Halloween

Yesterday was our first Halloween with the little man...we went trick or treating all over the neighborhood, he over-indulged in candy, and he hasn't slept in 24 hours.

Ok, that's not entirely accurate. We thought the neighbors would find it a little odd for two un-costumed adults holding an infant to come to their house asking for candy. Instead, we stayed home, cooked dinner, and had a mini photo shoot in our living room. So here are the treats from Micah's first Halloween!

Micah's one flaw...so far

As many people who have children know, It is very tough having a perfect child, but that is just a sacrifice that some people have to live with. We constantly talk about our kids, think everything they do is brilliant, and are convinced that they are developing faster than all other kids in the world! Well I am ashamed to admit that was us....until now! Micah's proud daddy has finally found a flaw in him, and this Reyes house is seriously shaken! There are no words to describe it...so just take a look for yourself:

Micah has a freaky big toe!!! And both feet look like that. This picture hardly does the freakiness justice, but it kinda swoops up, and his toenail grows straight up...like perpendicular to his toe! We kept thinking he would grow out of it and that it will normalize, but it has not. Where he got it, nobody knows, but it seems it is here to stay! Will freaky toe stunt his growth? Will the kids at school point and laugh? Will we have to hold him back a year from Kindergarten? That remains to be seen :) Will we stop talking about how brilliant he is? Don't count on it! But we can no longer ignore his feet....ladies and gentlemen, we have freaky toes!!!

(But on a more positive note, we just had our 4 month checkup and little man is developing very well. I didn't tell the doctor I had been feeding him solid foods for a month because you aren't supposed to start that this early anymore, but he said that M was definitely ready for a vast array of solid foods so it's good to know I haven't screwed him up by feeding him. He now weighs 17lbs and is 26 inches long....HUGE! But his hugeness has slowed down to the 75th percentile instead of 97th, so he is getting more normal by the day.)

The Tongue-Off

Micah has recently discovered his tongue, and he has learned how to mimmick us when we stick ours out at him. Here is a clip from last night at happy hour with my parents where he and his Yaya have a "tongue-off." Pretty soon he will be in trouble for sticking his tongue out all the time....but for now, as a 4 month old, it's pretty cute!

Our little pumpkin

We took a family trip down to Austin last weekend, and helped my mom set up her signature Fall pumpkin display while we were there. That of course gave Leon an artistic idea for pictures and yet another way to torture Micah as it turns out. It turned out pretty cute, and here are some of the pictures of our little pumpkin..

Helping carve the pumpkin

This tastes pretty good!

Ok, I'm over it....get me outa here!

Ok Dad is still taking pictures so I better make the most out of it.

The money shot :)

 We never figured out how to put the stem piece on his head without him freaking out, so these are the best shots we could get, given his attitude at the time. We did rescue him and feed him his bottle after these, so he was all better. But he better get used to these random pictures because he has a lifetime of them ahead of him! :)

The family car

We have a new addition to the family...a Family Car! No, we did not get a minivan, thank God (no offense to all you minivan lovers out there, but it just isn't our style!)....we got a new-to-us Cadillac Escalade, and so far we love it! Don't get me wrong, the old faithful Jetta will be greatly missed, but our days of weaving in and out of traffic and getting 40 miles to the gallon are officially over. We now have the pleasure of complaining with the rest of the country about high gas prices, and more importantly, our "presence" on the road is dually noted by everyone nearby. We sit up high on the highway. We hear the roar of a powerful engine. We can comfortably fit strollers, carseats, pack and plays, and bouncy seats. We have a family car.

What's next? A "baby on board" sticker perhaps? We aren't there yet, but maybe someday when all signs of our youth fly further out the window. But for now, we can just sit back and relax and enjoy our new-found extra bit of space in our new FAMILY CAR!

Help us send Micah to college!

First and foremost....happy 4 month birthday to our cute precious baby boy! On Monday he turned 4 months old and sent his poor parents into yet another tailspin of emotions as we remembered how much he has changed in 4 short months, and how different he will be in the next 4 months of his life. It just goes by too fast!! So happy birthday precious boy!

And speaking of going by too fast, you have an opportunity to help us get Micah a scholarship for college! There is a Gerber baby contest where each month a new batch of babies competes to win a $25,000 scholarship when the baby grows up. And we would really like that to be Micah!! So we entered him in this contest using the photo above, and need your help to get some votes. Here's the deal...you can only vote one time per computer and per email address per day. So that means you can vote every day this month if you want, and if you have more than one computer and more than one email address, you can vote multiple times per day.

Just go to http://www.gerber.com/Photo/#/gallery/ and click the "Search Photos" button. Type in Micah and Dallas as the city, and you should see his mustache picture. Cast your vote, and then come back every day and do the same thing!

Let's hope we have enough support to get him into the finals! Thanks everyone :)

Our Little Fake Cougher

Micah has found a new favorite past time....fake coughing. He has been doing it for a while now, and part of me knew it was fake, and the other part thought that maybe he just needed to clear his throat or something. But this morning, he proved to me that it is in fact a complete attention-getting maneuver, with the fact that he is now mimicking me when I fake cough back to him. Here is a video from this morning....

Not producing :(

One of the scariest things about being a new parent is the huge responsibility of being in charge of another person's life. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually, Micah depends on Leon and me for his needs to be met all day, every day. But in order for Micah to get what he needs from me emotionally, I need to make sure that I myself am emotionally sound. Same with spirituality...if Micah even has a prayer of getting any spiritual modeling, I have to be in a good place spiritually.

Well, recently (and while I realize that some people aren't really interested in talking about this subject, I made a commitment to be real, and this is a real part of my life, so I have to talk about it...) I have had a problem meeting one of Micah's basic needs. I am not producing much breastmilk anymore, and therefore feel like I am not giving him one of the basic of things that he needs right now.

I know many people will argue that there is always formula, and that though it is proven that breastmilk is in fact the best thing for babies, formula is not a bad thing, and I am not a bad mother for having to use breastmilk right now. But my own personal goal was to keep Micah on breastmilk until he switched to regular milk just because I want what is healthiest for my baby, with no exception. I do not think formula is inherently bad, nor do I think that mothers who make a decision to use formula are not doing what is best for their babies. But personally, I had a goal that I set for myself and my child, and it looks like I am not going to live up to that goal, and that is where my frustration lies.

I have tried all-natural fenugreek seeds (which Leon researched and found for me), I am eating and drinking lots of water, I am getting plenty of rest, and still nothing. I admit I am under some stress right now, dealing with our dog Coco's brain tumor and all that, but I cannot figure out what to do. And beating myself up over it isn't helping me one bit.

So I pose two questions...first of all, if anyone who is reading this has gone through the same thing and has found something that worked for them, what was it?? I am willing to try anything at this point! And secondly, if in fact nothing can be done, and I just have to accept my fate as an unwilling formula convert, how do I change my frame of mind to not think of myself as a terrible mother every time I have to mix up a bottle for Micah?

Micah's 2 month pictures

Here are some of Micah's 2 month pictures. The rest are on my Facebook, but here is just a little peek at our cutie! 3 month pics are coming soon.....

 

 

Our little rock star

We took this video a couple weeks ago, but Micah has recently developed a love of singing with his dad. I think we have a little musician on our hands!

The horror of public restroom changing tables!

The other day I did something I swore my whole entire life I would NEVER do....I used the little changing table thingy in a public restroom!

*pause for reaction*

Those of you who know me, and are well aware of the fact that I rarely use public restrooms myself, will appreciate this story all the more. And for those of you who do not know me all that well, I will take this time to give you a little insight into my somewhat neurotic personality (and I use the word "somewhat" loosely)...

In a nutshell, I am a complete germophobe. I am a freak about hand sanitizer (and especially since Micah was born), insanely long road trips and emergencies are the only things that can even make me enter a public restroom. I grew up never wanting to smell like "outside," or get dirty. And when I go to the restroom, I am that weird person who never touches anything (faucet, door handle, etc.), except with a dry paper towel....literally, I am a freak about germs.

And yet, I found myself at Chuy's hatch chili festival....

(we had a photo op in the "Peace, Love and Green Chilis" picture board)

...having fun with a bunch of our friends, when all of a sudden Micah decided to have a dirty diaper right in the middle of our happy hour! (The nerve!)

I was in a bind. I could go all the way out to the car, suffer heat exhaustion, and bend Micah in weird ways because he is too big to be changed on the seat anymore, or I could slip into the bathroom that is 10 feet away, and change him really quickly. So I traipsed into the bathroom, Micah and diaper bag in hand, and attempted to make a nasty changing table a germ-free diaper change for the both of us.

I wouldn't set the diaper bag down because of all the nastiness that would get on it, so I kept it on my shoulder the whole time. I of course didn't want to just set Micah down on the changer, so I got my little foldable changing pad out of the bag. And I didn't want to just set the changing pad down on the nasty public changer, so I had the brilliant idea to douse the changer in hand sanitizer, and wipe down every edge, crack and crevice with a couple paper towels. It already started to look and smell cleaner. I put the pad down, put Micah down, and changed his dirty diaper, realizing that I have a new irrational fear that I never would have known I have without this experience...that the changer will break and fall to the ground, taking Micah with it...so when I say I changed his diaper, I mean that I did it on one foot, with my other knee supporting it from underneath, all the while keeping his hands (and mine) from touching anything else in that restroom. And the act of washing my hands with an infant in my arms is in itself worthy of another blog post altogether!

It was definitely an experience. But I did it, Micah survived and doesn't seem to be sick from all the nastiness, and I was able to return to happy hour virtually unscathed. Do I want to do it again? Of course not! But do I feel like a strong, super-mommy for making it as germ-free as is humanly possible? You bet ya!

Micah is 3!

3 months that is! Today our baby has officially crossed into the 3 month zone, and I still find myself in awe that he has been here for 3 months already. On one hand, it feels like we just got home from the hospital, and on the other hand, it feels like I cannot even remember life without him. The greatest joy (and also the saddest thing) of mommyhood is watching your baby turn into a little man with every passing day.

Last week, he woke up one day and it was just like he said to himself "today is the day I will start cooing." He just started really cooing all the time, and everyday since then, he has cooed and cooed and talked, and sang all day, and Leon and I are completely mesmerized by him (not that we weren't already).




Then just yesterday, we had a big diaper blowout in the car on the way to the lake, and I had to change his diaper in the front seat of the car, which was pretty awkward. And when I didn't have enough space to change his clothes without bending his neck weirdly against the seat, I just stood him up, leaned him against the back of the seat, and he just stood there while I changed his clothes.

He is now eating rice cereal like a champ (which according to pediatricians today, he shouldn't start that until 6 months now....but I cheated because he was so big, just to see how he would handle it, and it was a breeze!), and can hold his own bottle for a little while...

oops, I mean this bottle....

He sits really well all by himself in his bumbo seat,

we just switched the baby swing out for the exersaucer, which he loves,

and he constantly chews on his fingers now that he has discovered them.

All in all, I would say he is probably the best 3 month old anyone could have ever ask for! :) So today, on September 4, 2010, I want to wish my cute precious amazing baby boy a very happy 3 month birthday!!! We love you, Micah!

Poor Baby Coco

Just thought I should update everyone on how our sweet little baby dog, Coco is doing. Over the past couple months, we have noticed a crazy change in her behavior. Those of you who know her, know that she is a crazy, high-energy little morkie. She plays with dogs 10 times her size, pesters everyone, and runs at the speed of light. But lately she had been real low on energy, not wanting to play, and has random shakes and tremors. Her head shakes when she just sits still, she loses balance really easily, and she just wants to cuddle up next to you and do nothing.

So, we took her to the vet, they didn't know what was wrong with her, and referred us to a doggie neurologist. In lieu of the $3000 MRI they wanted to do, we opted just for the exam which was quite a bit cheaper. The doctor said she thinks it is either encephalitis or a brain tumor, with the more likely diagnosis being a brain tumor, given how quickly her symptoms have progressed. The good thing is that both options are treated with the same drugs...steroids. So that is what we are currently doing....giving her steroids, and we will go back to the neurologist in a few weeks and see how she is doing.

We will never fully know what it is without the MRI, but the doctor is pretty confident that she has a good idea what it is. And as of today, Coco has been on the steroids for about 2 days, and I am already seeing an improvement in her symptoms. All we can do from here is see how she does on the treatment. Thankfully, she is not in any pain, and the minute she starts to be in pain, we will have to have some difficult conversations on what to do about her.

I happen to be one of those people who thinks that we will see our little animals in Heaven, so if you feel the urge, pray for our little baby Coco, and definitely for us as we think about some things we never wanted to think about when it comes to our little baby dog!

So in honor of Coco, here is a cute little video of her when she was healthy. This is what she does when she thinks she is in trouble:

 

Focus is everything

I sit here, trying to get some work done this Monday morning, after having been awakened by a crying baby at 5am, with no relief until he just went back to sleep at 8. I am tired, I am frustrated, and I am wishing I had the luxury of going back to sleep for a while. But unfortunately, I don't.

As I stumble my way through this enigma called parenting, I am starting to realize that focus is everything. When I stumble my tired body into Micah's room in the middle of the night, I have a choice...I can choose to be focused on how ridiculous it is that my sleeping-through-the-night 2 1/2 month old is waking up, or I can choose to use this as an opportunity to hug and cuddle my super-active-baby-who-never-wants-to-be-cuddled.

I think that also applies to all aspects of our lives. Do we see rush-hour traffic, or a chance to be quiet in our own thoughts? Financial struggles, or a lesson in how to better manage money? Fighting with our spouse, or an opportunity for greater closeness?


As I learned this lesson myself this morning, I encourage everyone to focus on the positive of our lives.

Cord Drama Documented

Most of you know that we had some crazy drama with Micah's umbilical cord. If not, you can read all about it here...

I realized I never did a follow up to that, but we do have a video of the day Micah's cord finally came off, so here it is:

Never too early to learn to swim!

Last weekend, we had a little "Meet Micah" pool party at my parents' house in Austin and had a ton of fun seeing old friends and swimming with the little guy. He absolutely loved the water and did a great job swimming and splashing around with everyone. Here is a picture of Micah with his Yaya in the water.

Unfortunately, not every water experience has been this favorable. Back on Micah's one month birthday, which was the 4th of July, we decided to try him in the water. Of course, the one weekend we are in Austin, it turns out to be overcast and rainy the whole time, so the water in my parents' pool was freezing cold! Needless to say, it was not Micah's favorite thing...but we had to video tape his first water experience...so here it is:

Leon's Baby Tricks

One of the great things about Leon having been a baby photographer is all the things he has learned about how to handle infants. For instance, if you are trying to get a baby to look at you and just can't get them to turn their head toward you, block the vision of what they are looking at with your hand on the side of their head, and they are forced to follow the view to your face. Pretty cool, right?

His photographer tricks are not really to comfort a child or parent any better, but instead they are more for getting the baby to do what we want. One such trick is when the baby cries, you are supposed to make a noise louder than the baby's cry, and he will become distracted and forget to keep crying. It works to get a good picture. But Leon does it a little more often. Here is one such example...

Let's celebrate Micah's 2 month birthday with some shots!

Today is the day our baby boy turns 2 months! Oh my gosh, how is it possible that I am the mother of a 2 month old! However old I feel right now, will only exponentially increase I am afraid, as this blog hears such things as: I am the mother of a 2 year old.....a 5 year old...a 13 year old....ahhhh!!! My mind is completely racing right now, but I have to remind myself to stay in the moment so I don't pre-stress to much! 

So in this moment, I will talk about one of our major accomplishments today. Today was the much-dreaded shot day. The day I have been hoping wouldn't get here. The day I have been stressing about, researching, picking people's brains, and having nightmares about. Should I skip vaccinations altogether and take our chances on diseases? Should I just bite the bullet, vaccinate, and take my chances that everything will be ok? What exactly are the chemicals that will be entering my son's body? What will the side effects be? ......the list goes on. 

In this midst of my research on the subject, one of the most surprising things I found out is just how combative of a subject this actually is. Parents of autistic children say across the board that it is the fault of a vaccine, doctors across the board say there is no link, and each side pretty much hates the other. That left me completely in the middle, not knowing what the true story is, and putting me in a position, once again, where I had to completely trust God and my own instincts on the subject.

After much anticipation and dread of today's appointment, Leon and I talked to Micah's doctor. We picked his brain on vaccines, and wanted to get all our facts straight as best we could. Instead of doing all the vaccines altogether like many people typically do, we proposed to our doctor an alternative vaccine plan from Dr. Sears' Vaccine Book. Part of the problem in my mind had been the fact that vaccines were starting so early, while their bodies are still trying to form. And here they were about to pump my baby boy full of 4 different viruses so to speak. Not cool for me! What Dr. Sears proposes is a more spread out vaccine schedule, where babies are actually given more shots, but more spread out, and not bundled together like shots tend to be done. This cuts down on unnecessary ingredients in the bundled together shots, and more evenly distributes the shots, so babies' little bodies can handle it better, and with less side-effects. This was the only thing I had found in all my research that I was really at peace about, so this is what I had my heart set on. And to our surprise, our doctor was fine with it! We will have to go back more often than the standard schedule, but to us it is worth it if for no other reason than peace of mind for Leon and me. 

So here is the Dr. Sears schedule of vaccines that we are going to follow with Micah, with a few changes:

• 2 months: DTaP, Rotavirus
• 3 months: Pc, HIB
• 4 months: DTaP, Rotavirus
• 5 months: Pc, HIB
• 6 months: DTaP, Rotavirus
• 7 months: Pc, HIB
• 9 months: Polio (IPV)
• 12 months: Mumps, Polio (IPV)
• 15 months: Pc, HIB
• 18 months: DTaP, Chickenpox
• 2 years: Rubella, Polio (IPV)
• 2 1/2 years: Hep B, Hep A (start Hep B at birth if any close relatives or caregivers have Hep B)
• 3 years: Hep B, Measles
• 3 1/2 years: Hep B, Hep A
• 4 years: DTaP, Polio (IPV)
• 5 years: MMR
• 6 years: Chickenpox
• 12 years: Tdap, HPV
• 12 years, 2 months: HPV
• 13 years: HPV, Meningococcal

The only thing vaccine that is still controversial is MMR, which is no longer allowed to be broken up into 3 separate shots. So we will have to determine when we are ready to get that one...I just know that day is not today, so we will deal with that another time!

I was telling Leon today on our way home from the doctor, that it's amazing how little you know of just how much stress you are carrying until that stress is gone. Did that make any sense? In other words, when you no longer have a particular stress in your life...in my case, the stress of vaccine decisions...you start to realize just how much it was occupying your thoughts. So now I can relax and take a breath, knowing that we made the right decision for our family. And that is what I encourage every parent out there to do...what is best for YOUR family and no one else! Do not be bullied by anyone to do something you are not comfortable with. In fact, there is a great parenting blog I stumbled upon called Anti-Sheephood which encourages people to not be "sheep" and follow the crowd when it comes to parenting. It definitely helped comfort me when it came to our decision about Micah's vaccinations.

**And on a more positive note...Micah not only turned 2 months old today, but he also turned from his stomach to his back!! Isn't he just the most talented baby in America?! :)~ Here is a new picture with his sister Coco cuddling up next to him in honor of his 2 month birthday...

Vote for Micah's Nursery!

Some of you have seen our video of how we decorated Micah's room:




We wanted to create something abstract, artsy, and just not your standard baby blue nursery. Our fabric choice has been criticized, colors made fun of, and no one really pictured it like we did until they saw the finished product.

We recently emailed our nursery to the webmaster of a baby decor website, and they decided to put us up on their site for parents to look at and get ideas from. There is also a contest as to who gets the highest ratings. I am not sure what the prize is, but of course I want to win just for bragging rights :) ...so visit our page on the site at http://www.unique-baby-gear-ideas.com/abstract-modern-nursery-design.html and add a comment and give us a good rating!

The vaccine debate

Micah's 2 week doctor appointment is coming up next week, and that means round 1 of the dreaded vaccines! I have always been real skeptical of vaccines in America because of all the talk of their connection to autism. But now that my decision of whether or not to vaccinate Micah is right around the corner, I am cramming in the research on both sides of the topic.

The anti-vaccinators argue that despite what the FDA and other agencies say, there is a strong correlation between vaccines and occurrences of autism, due to the mercury-containing compound called themirosal that is in some of the vaccines, particularly the MMR vaccine. 

On the pro-vaccination side, it is of course a necessity to protect our children from dangerous diseases. When we vaccinate, we are helping our children's immune system build the necessary defenses to fight anything that may come our way.

And in the very middle is where I find myself. I am definitely not thinking that not vaccinating Micah is an option. But I am also thinking that if anything would have a chance of harming my baby, I do not want to even take the risk! So what do I do? There has to be some middle ground...like spreading out vaccinations, and breaking up bundled vaccines such as MMR.....I just don't know.

I am starting to worry about this issue, and was wondering if anyone else has done any research on the subject. Here are some resources I have found:
Anti-Vaccines: http://www.thegreenparent.com/2009/02/05/the-vaccination-decision-vaccines-and-autism/
Pro-Vaccines: http://www.thegreenparent.com/2009/02/17/court-rules-no-link-between-vaccines-and-autism/
Jenny McCarthy's organization: http://www.generationrescue.org/vaccines/vaccines
Jenny McCarthy's Story: http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Mothers-Battle-Autism/

But I just wanted to know if anyone else had any wisdom to share before I take the vaccine plunge....

A Balancing Act

Why is it always so hard to manage our time? Whether it is school, work, family, friends, or all of the above, there are always challenges when it comes to finding balance. For me, it has been a struggle for a while, but throwing a child in the mix just makes it that much harder to achieve the highly sought-after luxury of balance!

I would love to be one of those mothers who doesn't have to work, and who has a maid, a nanny, and a personal assistant. That would definitely help achieve balance in my life. But the fact is, everything that needs to be done needs to be done by me, and there really is not a thing in my life that can suffer right now. I have to take care of Micah, that's a given. I have to get my work done so we can buy food. I now need to worry about working off this baby weight, and eat right, so skipping a workout or ordering a pizza when I don't feel like cooking really isn't an option anymore. I need to make sure the house stays clean for my own sanity. I need to still be a wife to Leon, and I definitely need to spend some time with God at some point during my day. Why does this all seem so overwhelming and impossible to achieve?

I don't have the answer. I wish I did. But I do know that in the Bible it says "Write the vision and make it plain..." (Habakkuk 2:2). So I have started writing down the plan for my day. I list what I need to accomplish, and when. It is helping, though everything still seems overwhelming. But I am sure that with enough practice, we can all achieve the balance we are looking for in our lives. At least I hope so.

Any advice on how balance has been achieved in your life when things seem overwhelming? Are there any super-mom pills out there? Just kidding.

Our Crazy Little Family

I have a few new videos of our family from Micah's first few weeks of life. The more recent ones are coming soon, but if you are interested, check out the videos below....

Video catch up

So I am a little late on the video positing, but here is our next vlog video of us coming home from the hospital. I am working on being better about my video posting, so we are in the middle of a little bit of catch up until then!

Sleeping patterns

Helping a newborn sleep through the night is always a topic of conversation among parents. Babies are all different, so it is hard to say when they should start sleeping through the night or how we can help them do that. But I know Micah has it in him to sleep at least 5 hours at night. He did it the second day he was home from the hospital, it just happened to be at 2:00 in the afternoon. So in an effort to re-arrange his schedule to where he sleeps those 5 hours at night, we have been making sure we wake him up every 3 hours during the day so he gets all his feedings in and will hopefully sleep more at night. It is working, but it is definitely not the easiest thing to do! Sometimes the little man just doesn't want to wake up....it does provide good entertainment, but it does not make things easy on us! Check out this adorable video of our little man.... 

 


Any tips out there from you parents will be welcomed with open arms. But until then, we will keep doing what we are doing, because it seems to be working! Now he is going between 4-5 hours every night...yay!!! Now if we could just get to 8 hours, I might get myself a good night's sleep!

A month feels like a day...

How can it be possible that our baby boy is already a month old?! Even he can't believe it!

 

It seems like only yesterday that we were in the hospital just getting to know our little man, and on the 4th of July, he had his 1 month birthday! I am completely dumbfounded at how fast time has flown, but have been loving every minute!

Leon and I recently reconnected with an old friend who loves deep, personal conversations as much as we do. After she recovered from the initial shock of seeing us with a baby, she asked us a great question that I think bears repeating...what was the most surprising thing about having a baby for us?

Leon's response was that he was surprised at how close it was bringing the two of us together. We always hear how marriage gets strained with children, and I think we were expecting that to happen from the very beginning, but in our case, at least so far, it has done nothing but bring us closer together. Not only do we have this amazing child to care for, but watching each other become parents has only increased our love for one another. We are still focused on our marriage first and foremost, and then being parents to Micah. And the fact that Micah wasn't an instant wedge in between us, surprised Leon....even to the point where he coined my new favorite saying of all time: "I'd sell a kid on eBay before I let it ruin my marriage!" :)

My answer to the question was that I was most surprised by how much I loved it. I felt like everyone had only told me the downsides to having a newborn..."get ready to be exhausted," "plan on staying home for 3 months," "expect your marriage to be strained," etc.... I heard it all, from bad personal experiences, to warnings about colic, fussiness, marital problems, sleepless nights and more. Because of what everyone was telling me, I was expecting it to be completely draining, and while I am tired, and even leaving the house is more difficult than it used to be, I think that I over-prepared for the worst, and am now surprised at how amazing it is!

**So I was just curious...for all you parents out there, think back to when you first had a baby (some may have to think back further than others!). What was the most surprising thing for you? I am always interested in hearing other people's thoughts, so if you have time, comment on this post and tell us what was most surprising for you!

Change in perspective

It's amazing how much a baby changes things! Before Micah came into our lives, Leon and I were looking at change as a bad thing. We loved our life, we loved each other, and we didn't want a baby ruining any of that. 


But now that the little man has come, and we have learned that loving him while still loving each other is easier than we thought, we have come to embrace a little bit of change, both in our relationship and in our personal lives. One of the biggest changes that Micah has brought to my life is my perspective on God.

Leon and I have been through a lot of ups and downs during our first year of marriage, and a lot of the downs had to do with negative experiences in church, and with pastors in our lives. I will spare everyone the details of these negative experiences, but suffice it to say that our experiences left us a little sour on church and church leaders. Ok, "a little sour" is an understatement....we were hurt, and we were pissed, even to the point where we didn't want anything to do with church people. (Sorry, but I made a commitment to be honest, no matter how terrible my thoughts were).

Getting over those feelings toward church has proven to be a trick for us. We just want to see more people who are authentically living life for Jesus, instead of people who just talk a good talk from principles they learned in Seminary, and they are not living a life like Christ modeled for us at all. 

I had thought until now that I was just frustrated with the church. But as I dig deeper into those feelings, I am starting to realize that I wasn't just upset with the church, but with God too. I felt like we had been abandoned by Him, that He was missing, and that He shouldn't have allowed certain things to happen to us when we were trying to serve Him with our whole hearts. 

I let those feelings go on a lot longer than I should have, and it is just now, when I look at my baby boy, and I cannot help but see the beauty and glory of God's everyday miracles in His sweet little face, and small little fingers and toes, that I am starting to see God for who He truly is again. When Micah's eyes start focusing on us more and more each day. When he smiles, even though he doesn't know what he is doing yet. When he stops crying when he hears my voice or Leon's voice....All these sweet little precious moments in time that I will treasure forever would never have been possible if God hadn't randomly decided to bless us with this incredible baby boy. He was formed out of 2 cells, and grew to this amazing, perfectly healthy boy that we now get to hold and cuddle. God was not absent in our lives, instead, He was preparing the way for us to be able to love and provide for this amazing baby boy who deserves the whole world, and He was making us into the kinds of parents He knew we needed to be for Micah.


I would like to say I am completely over my recent lapse in judgment when it comes to God, but I am not out of the woodwork just yet. But with every passing day, and every little glance from my almost 1 month old, my heart melts more and more, and God shows Himself to me over and over again in the eyes of His precious creation Micah. And I am starting to fall in love with my Father again because of my baby boy! What an awesome God we have who will not give up on us but who will bless us and bless us and relentlessly pursue us until we simply cannot resist His ultimate love!

Sleeping Micah

Of course I think my son is adorable...I mean, I am his mother, and by that definition alone, I am bound to think he's amazing; but besides that fact, the truth is that he truly is completely adorable! :) I have been taking pictures ad nauseam since we got home from the hospital, and since he is less than a month old and all he really does is sleep at this point, the majority of those pictures happen to be of him sleeping. I can't help it, I just think he is so cute when he sleeps!

There is nothing more peaceful than when I watch my baby boy sleep. Sometimes he smiles, sometimes he punches the air, and sometimes he even laughs. I started thinking about how peaceful he is and how much trust he puts in us to take care of him. Regardless of the kind of parents Leon and I will be, Micah has no choice but to trust that we will take good care of him and will act in his best interest.

I think that same trust my baby boy puts in me can teach me so much about how I need to trust my Heavenly Father. The only difference is that I am fooled by the illusion that I have control over my own life, but I will inevitably mess things up for myself. I think if I spent more time just trusting God to take care of me and lead me, and less time fighting against Him, I may just sleep as peacefully as my sweet baby boy! And the good thing is that God won't ever mess things up for us.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6