Having time off

I am absolutely loving that we have a full week off now for Thanksgiving! It allows me to catch up on time with Brody and see how much he has developed. There is something about going from seeing him a few hours a day to having him all day for an extended period of time. It helps me to see all the things I miss during the day. There are times I wish I could be a stay at home mom, but the more I think about it I am sort of glad I am not. One because being in the house all day I would go crazy since I couldn't afford to go out; but also, working helps me to appreciate all his developments. I am much more appreciative of the time I have with him than when I was home with him all day. 


This week I have seen so many wonderful developments. He is much more "talkative" and active in the morning. He is fascinated by all the things around us. He is in love with anything electronic apparently. He loves my cell phone and the remote and will army crawl across the room to get to them! I don't know what it is about our fireplace either, but he cannot keep away from it. He just wants to hit the slab all the time! I wish he would sit up more and start pulling up, but he seems perfectly content just rolling and army crawling everywhere! He will sit, but he definitely prefers to be on his tummy or back. I feel as though he is slightly delayed due to having his helmet to fix his torticollis, but such is life. 


Although I notice many wonderful developments over my week with him, I have of course developed some concerns as well...perhaps some other moms could tell me if this is normal. 


1. He fights me every time he goes in his high chair to eat. He stiffens up like board and pitches a fit. I am not sure why he hates that chair...it is where he EATS! Isn't that supposed to be the best part of the day (next to sleep and play)?


2. He will not eat solid food. He loves his baby food, but I have been trying to give him puffs, yogurt melts, and veggies/fruit cut into itty-bitty pieces and he does not like it at all. Yesterday, I put cut up bananas (again teeny tiny pieces) into his rice cereal and he absolutely hated it. He even threw up his food. Shouldn't he be interested in solids by now? He loves to watch us eat and grabs for our food, but won't eat it when it is in front of him. I put it on his tray and it is literally the only thing he will not put in his mouth.


3. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE that Brody is such a great sleeper, but is it normal for him to sleep 12 hours at night plus take two 2 hour naps in a day? It just seems like a long time for a baby his age (8 months) to sleep. For the most part, he is sleeping through the night. He occasionally wakes up, but it just seems like a long time. 


I am assuming all of these things are normal, but I am and always will be a worry wort. I am just glad this week I have been able to keep his naps on schedule (which is a miracle because he rarely naps for us). Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I cannot wait to see his reaction to all the chaos. :)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Saturday we official began the Christmas season in the Tansill house. Yes, I know, I know! We haven't even had Thanksgiving yet! I have always been one of those who hates how Christmas gets earlier and earlier each year, but I couldn't help myself this year. I am just so stinkin' excited about all of Brody's firsts! 


We started the day off by going to visit Santa at the Mall of Georgia. We left right after Brody's nap so that he would be well rested. It was extremely cold, which was good because we had a cozy winter outfit laid out for him to wear. We were happy to see we had beat any crowds, which was the point of us going so early. We were in and out within an hour. In line, we met another little baby who had been born 5 days apart from Brody. She was ahead of us and the poor girl was terrified of Santa. When I saw the girl have a fit, I was afraid Brody was going to follow behind her and freak out (despite him being a well-mannered boy). Brody did great though! He was so intrigued by Santa. I could tell he just wanted to pull Santa's beard. We got some really cute pictures. We decided though that we will not be buying anymore in the future, except when there is a sibling getting their first visit too. They rip you off!! We paid $42 for 5 prints and a CD. That is ridiculous, but it captured such a wonderful memory.


After visiting Santa, we went to Toys R Us to return some gifts I had ordered and didn't want. Then we went home to set up all our decorations. Luckily, Jeremy had gotten them all out the night before and I had already wrapped all the Christmas gifts to go under the tree, so all we needed to do was set it all up. My mom and my brother came over to help and we had a great time. The house looks beautiful and it is so nice to have it all done so we can enjoy the season doing fun things with Brody. He has loved all the lights around the house and the trees. My goodness the trees! We have 4 trees! We have 2 full size trees. Our main tree for all the gifts. Another full size tree by Brody's room for his 12 Days of Christmas gifts (we will give him a gift each day starting Dec. 12 and they are all books). We also have one of the patio and a tiny one in his room as well. it definitely looks a LOT like Christmas around here and I love it! I am not ashamed. :) 


Here are a couple pictures from our eventful day...

First Halloween

Fall is definitely my favorite time of year and Halloween is one of my favorite holidays (Christmas being the exception). There is something about all the decorations and the trees changing colors. I just absolutely love it! I was super excited to share my excitement with Brody. We did so many exciting and new things this year to celebrate fall (Burt's Pumpkin Farm, Hillcrest Apple Orchard, pumpkin painting, and cookie baking). However, we did not go all out for Halloween since Brody is on such a strict schedule of being asleep by 7. We did not have him go to a single house. I felt sort of silly every time someone asked me, "What is Brody going to be for Halloween?" I mean really...he was 7 months. He can't eat candy. He can't stay up late. 

But we still embraced the season and got him a Halloween costume (which he slept in). We bought him a onesie skeleton costume that glowed in the dark since we knew he would not get to partake in any of the Halloween fun. We also got him jack-o-lantern PJs that were so cute with a pumpkin on the butt. I have to say, I absolutely LOVE any PJs with something on the butt. It is so cute when I go to check on Brody at night and his butt is sticking straight up in the air and I see that cute something on the PJs! 

Although we did not do much for Halloween, Ms. Becky did. She is amazing! I could tell all the kids had a blast because Brody was definitely sleepy that night. He got the cutest Baby's 1st Halloween bib, a book, and bottle. He used all 3 that night. We read him the book and of course he wanted to eat it more than anything! Overall, we had a fun Halloween and I can't wait for next year. I hope that next year we can make it to a house or two, but we will have to wait and see how his schedule is. 

Playing with his book

Wearing his new bib (just finished his yummy meal)

Investigating his new bottle

Apples, Apples, Apples

After our visit to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard, we were super excited to get some fall activities completed. We decided it was time to go visit my mom, who I will call Nana from now on, and bake Halloween cookies, paint pumpkins, and make apple pies to freeze for Thanksgiving. 


We began by attempting pumpkin painting. Before heading over to Nana's house, we had to stop at Wal-mart in search of paint for pumpkins. We were unsuccessful, but got some paint we thought would work. Turns out it was not the best pick. We painted pumpkins, only to have the paint chip off on the way home. :( Lesson learned. Next year, we will get paint specifically designed for pumpkin painting. *Note to others: Tempura paint does not work! :) However, before the paint chipped off, we were able to get pictures of the painted pumpkins. Brody's pumpkin was a pumpkin he picked while going to the pumpkin patch with Ms. Becky. Below are pictures of our pumpkins and Brody at the pumpkin patch with Ms. Becky.

While we finished painting our pumpkins, Nana took all the apples we got at the apple orchard and made apple pies for us to enjoy on Thanksgiving! I can't wait to see how that comes out. I didn't get to try any of the apples, so I hope they were good! 


We now have cookie cutters for absolutely every holiday. Needless to say, sugar cookies will be a staple in our family every holiday. Here are the cookies we made. 

I am starting to develop my love for crafty things again. Thank you to all the moms who have given me ideas over the years. Especially, Ashlee! I am excited at developing new traditions as a family (new for me at least) and am looking forward to doing them every year. Brody loved this day. I love having my mom so close and seeing how she interacts with him and he responds to her! He loves his Nana and this was a great, memorable day with her. 


Coming up...a blog on how we spent the actual Halloween day...be on the look out. I am already on catch up mode.  :) 

Pumpkin Farm/Hillcrest Orchard

So October has been filled with TONS of fun! The month started with Brody taking a trip to Burt's Pumpkin Farm and Hillcrest Orchard with his Aunt Ashlee, Uncle David, and two cousins (Connor and Gavin). He had so much fun and stayed awake for most of it. Of course we could not resist having Ashlee do her thing and take amazing photos of our precious angel. We left bright and early (7:45) to go to Burt's and Brody slept well on his way there. Once he was there, he was amazed by the variety of pumpkins! They had pumpkins about 5 times his size (if not more)! We were able to get some great shots of Brody and he handled all the wardrobe changes his mother made him go through there in the slightly cold weather. I believe it was a total of 3 different outfits there. :) 


Brody really liked be able to get in the dirt and feel it. He also liked exploring the pumpkins and figuring out all about them. His favorite pumpkins are the ones that are his size. He also go to see and sit on a John Deer tractor! Something tells me as he grows up, he will love it more and more. Lastly, at Burt's, we went and took pictures by the hay. He thought the hay was pretty tasty apparently! He loved putting it in his mouth! Below are some pictures from Burt's. I strongly recommend it for any mother that wants to do something different and fun for Halloween. I think just going to the mountains in general during the fall is a great weekend trip for kids. I can see this definitely becoming a family tradition to go to the mountains for some pumpkins, apples, and camping (in the future). 

Who wouldn't love that smile?!

 Showing off his two teeth!

 Exploring the pumpkins

 Loving the tractor!

 Starting to look more like Mommy?

 Brody's Halloween Costume

After Burt's, we made the short trip to Hillcrest Orchard. I would say this is where the FUN really began. This place was absolutely amazing and relatively cheap. They had many things for our nephews to enjoy like bikes, pillowtop, go karts, slides, tractors, pig races, petting zoo, etc. We did not do all of it, but we did go on a hayride and got some yummy apples to make apple pies for the holidays (that blog to come later). We got some cute photos there as well of course. We are so fortunate to have such an amazing photographer in our family. She truly is so gifted and I treasure the moments she captures with that lens. 


This small mini-vaca was a great way to start off the fall. I enjoyed making new memories with Brody and starting new family traditions, but I also enjoyed seeing our nephews. They have such great personalities and make me smile. It amazes me how quickly they grow up. It makes me just want to cherish every moment. Below are the pictures from Hillcrest Orchard. Blog on what we did with those apples to come shortly. :)

The Apple of Our Eye

 That smile melts my heart! He is always so happy and he makes his Mommy happy every single day!

 Watching the guy driving the tractor with Daddy

Going to try this

BRODY 

So, I am going to try this and try to keep up with it. I would love to document Brody's milestones and all the amazing things he experiences, sees, and does throughout his life. God blessed us beyond measure when we got Brody and he is our pride and joy. I am already 8 months behind :/ *eeeeee* on this, but I will do a brief synopsis and hopefully keep up from here on out.


Brody came into our life on March 12, 2011, 12:57 AM, at Gwinnett Medical. From the start he has sort of had a bumpy ride. He came into this world without complications, but since then has experienced jaundice, acid reflux, phlagiocipholy (sp?), torticollis, an ear infection, and breathing treatments. Despite that seeming like a long list of issues, it is nothing compared to what other babies go through and he has been a trooper through it all. Let's quickly go over his milestones:


2 months = sleeping through the night
4 months = holding head up, solid foods
6 months = rolling
7 months = 2 teeth/sitting


Parenthood has had its fair shares of troubles. Initially, the frustration was no sleep. But I think the biggest frustration was feeding. Did any other mommy's out there find this to be the most difficult part? I tried and tried and he would latch, but production did not come easily for me. Very stressful! Now I struggle with constantly worrying that he is not developing the way he should or that I am doing something wrong or even worse...that something will happen to him. I guess this will never go away and it is just all a part of the journey. 


I hope through this blog, I will be able to remember all the good, the bad, and the ugly. Life is not perfect. We will have our struggles and our triumphs as parents, but I hope that Brody develops a love for Christ and find comfort in him. May God guide us down a path of parenting that will foster that love. This is just the start and I look forward to much more to come. So let me finish my first blog by saying a special message to my baby boy....


Brody,
I love you forever. I'll like you always. Always, forever my baby you'll be! 
~Mommy


Here a few shots from the first few months:

Brody in Mommy's Belly

About 4 months old playing in his exersaucer (He LOVES that iguana)

 His helmet (about 5 months)

In the hospital

 1 week old

 About 1-2 months

 First Road Trip -- Charlotte, NC to see Uncle Scott and Aunt Angel

 About 3 months

 Baptism with Pastor Scott

 A Day with the Boys

 4th of July at Uncle Scott's

 3 month shots (really almost 4 months)