Our Little Turkey

We had a great time celebrating Drake's first Thanksgiving! We started out with dinner Ben's parents and then headed to my parents for dessert and to spend the night. I ended up going shopping the next day with my mom and sister so Drake was lucky enough to get to spend the whole day with his Papa doing boy things! I think both Drake and my Dad had a GREAT time!! Here are a few pictures from the day.

Some of Our Favorite Things

When I was pregnant and after D was first born I always loved reading other moms blogs about the things that they loved for their babies, I picked up some great ideas. Since I have quite a few readers who are either new moms or expecting a baby I thought I would share what D and I love so far!

Winkel:

This strange looking toy has been a favorite of D's for a very long time. It was one of the first toys that he could grasp since it had lots of places to hold on. He now loves it to chew on it. This has provided us with lots of entertainment!

Sophie:

I know I already talked about Sophie a few posts back, but I can't stress enough how GREAT she is!! D loves to chew on her, cuddle up with Sophie for a nap, and just hold on to her. This is the best money we have spent on a toy.

Ocean Wonders Bouncer:

We have used this bouncer more than any other baby item. D slept in it for a month during the worst of his reflux. Now he loves to sit in it and look around or kick the fish and watch the bubbles in the aquarium.

Taggie blanket:

D was lucky enough to receive one of these from his Grandma and one from a family friend. It is basically just a small piece of fabric with tags all around the edge. He loves to snuggle with it when he naps and likes the way the tags feel one his hands and face. If you know somebody who can sew have them make one for you because it is WAY cheaper than buying the real ones!

Chicco Highchair:

D is not even eating solid food yet, but we have had the highchair out for a few weeks already and we love it! He is too noisy to not be in all the action so he likes to sit at the table with us when we eat. I love this because it has a bunch of different seat reclining settings, so he can sit in it comfortably reclined a little bit. He also loves to watch me cook so I just roll the highchair where I am and he is very entertained!

A few other things worth mentioning:

• Playtex Ventair Bottles- I really like these. We started out using Avent but had lots of issues with leaking and D just did not seem to love them.
• Carters clothes- I have found they fit pretty true to size, are cute and comfy, durable, and you can find them at great prices!
• I have a special place in my heart for Baby Gap. How can you resist clothes that make your son look like a little man?!?!
• We just bought the Rainforest Jumperoo, D is a little too short to jump yet, but I think this will become a favorite in our house very soon.
• I can't believe I have not mentioned this yet, but the Miracle Blanket is pretty much the only swaddle blanket that worked at our house. If you are swaddling or plan on swaddling your baby I HIGHLY recommend this magic blanket!
• Socks that look like shoes...need I say more?!?

I am sure that this list will only be growing, but in our first 3 months this is what we LOVE!!

Sneak Peak

You have to check out the sneak peak of D's pictures on our photographer's blog.

http://smidts.blogspot.com/

This proud mommas heart just melted when I saw them...they are perfect!!!

More pictures to come when the full gallery is posted.

Until then I will leave you with this cute pic of my boy rocking out in his pink shirt!

Thankful in 2009

2009 has been a great year for our family and with Thanksgiving coming up I thought it would be a great idea to sit down and list what I'm thankful for in 2009!

• The smell of a baby after a bath when they are in their pj's
• The joy that one of D's smiles can bring to anybody around him
• A husband who I love more than I ever have after seeing him become a father
• The fact that D has 2 sets of Grandparents, 3 aunts, 1 uncle and 1 cousin that love him SO much. We are blessed to have these people in our life.
• My mom who is my best friend
• My dad who is the most patient and loving person I know
• My sisters who make me laugh, let me cry, and are always there
• The way my dog S loves to snuggle with me
• Photos!! Oh how I love to look back over the last 3 months
• Reflux medicine
• An easy labor and delivery
• Friends who always know the right thing to say
• My job...it is perfect
• B's job...he is finally happy and being challenged
• Finding a church home
• Bouncy seats
• Swaddle blankets
• Wine
• Date nights with my husband
• The chance to be pregnant
• Seeing S and D together...best friends
• Epidurals
• My parents moving closer
• Baby belly laughs
• Soy formula
• Diet Pepsi
• H1N1 vaccines
• Cuddles from D
• A husband with a sense of humor

The thing I am most thankful for in 2009 is the fact that God picked us to be parents to a baby boy with wild hair and a smile that melts our hearts. After 14 months of struggling to have a baby, he gave us more than we could have ever wanted in our sweet, precious son. His timing was perfect and the wait was worth every single tear, feeling of frustration and endless disappointment and for that I am beyond THANKFUL!!

Sophie the Giraffe

Sophie the giraffe has caused quite a stir at our house. Sophie is a teether that we bought D for Christmas, but decided to give him early since he started teething way earlier than we anticipated. It is the perfect thing for him to chew on as it is soft rubber and has lots of good chewing surfaces. It turns out that Sophie also has a squeaker and this where things become interesting.

S, our golden retriever, things that Sophie is his, since it squeaks like many of his other toys. The day we broke it out of the box, S tried to get it out of the bouncer from D, as he thought D stole it from him! We had company over on Friday night and I turn around and S is carrying Sophie around in his mouth showing her off to everybody! Needless to say Sophie experienced her first bath!!

After lots of scolding S, he finally understands that it is not his, but he sure would still like to get his paws on it! Sophie is in the lower right hand side of the picture, as you can see S is about as close as he can get without actually touching her!

To any new moms or moms to be out there...This is an awesome toy and I highly recommend it!! I bought mine at Baby Gap, but you can also get it online.

D loves his Sophie!!

Five

You might be wondering why I named this post"five", well that is because my sweet little 15 week, 13 pound bundle of cuteness is in the process of getting FIVE teeth in!! Yes, you read that right, I can't believe that my little guy is big enough for five teeth! So far he has been a trooper and just can't get enough of his little fingers, momma's fingers, or his cute giraffe toy!

In other news, D is now enjoying sitting in his high chair while we eat dinner, he LOVES to be part of the action and "talk" to us while we eat!

We had D's first photo shoot today and he was awesome! We got in a great hour of photos of him, I can hardly wait to see them and will post the link as soon as I have it to share with everybody!!

As much fun as each new stage is, I'm finding myself hugging him a little tighter, holding him a little longer, and kissing his sweet checks a little more, as I have witnessed my 7 pound tiny, helpless newborn turn into a 13 pound, 5 teeth, highchair sitting, full of personalty, 3 month old. These moments go by way to fast not cherish every.single.second!

Will I EVER have my body back?

OK, all you mommas out there, this question is for you....will my body EVER be the same again?

So I have about 15 baby pounds left that I would like to loose. The pounds are coming off S-L-O-W!!!! I have my eating under control, so that is not the problem. The problem is getting to the gym. When do you go? How do you make the time? I need some tips, so PLEASE let me know what your secret is.

I think the hardest part of this is , that right before I got pregnant I was in the BEST shape of my life. I had just lost 30 lbs, and bought some cute new jeans and form fitting shirts. Right now I would rather dress up like a nun than try in squeeze into those things.

So I want to hear it the good, the bad, and the ugly. Tell me the truth about the post baby body and most of all share what works for YOU!!

3 Months Old

                                                               A big boy at 3 months!

                                                                 D's first Halloween!!

                                                       Hanging out in my new jumperoo

                                                                  Jumping is HARD work!

                                                             One of those cute smiles we love!

                                                                   Bad to the bone!

                                                            Real boys wear pink!!!

Our baby is growing up and although I'm sad that he is not the little bundle we brought home from the hospital, we are having so much fun with him!!

• He is doing so much better after getting his reflux under control, his thrush almost cleared up and switching to soy. The soy formula has made a world of difference and has really made his tummy feel better. Our happy little guy is back full-time now!!!
• He is always smiling and "talking" to us. He definitely knows who his mommy and daddy are and have special smiles just for us!
• He has rolled over from his back to his tummy one time and has shown no interest of doing it again, instead he is more interested in trying to sit up all the time!
• He goes CRAZY in his bath and it actually looks like he is trying to swim. We let him sit and play in his tub until the water starts getting cold every night!!!
• He is sleeping between 8-10 hours at night!!!! We are loving it and he is so well rested that he is FULL of smiles when we get him up in the morning.
• He loves the Black Eyed Peas song "I Got a Feeling" He cracks up as we make him dance to it. It might be the cutest/funniest thing I have ever seen!

We are SO happy to have our happy boy back. He had been through so much these past 2 months that our hearts were breaking. We are so enjoying every single second with our little guy!!

1 Little Monkey Jumping On the Bed

I had to learn how to become a monkey so I was researching with Skinner

Cutest Monkey EVER!!!I really think I'm going to like these bananas in a few months...after all they are a monkeys favorite food!

My first Halloween