3 months

When looking at a website for what a 3 month old usually accomplish, Drew stumbled on the fact they leave newborn stage and enter infant stage. WHAT?!?!? That makes my heart leap a little...

Peyton has been so alert this month! While he has been wiggling his arms around from day 1, he has officially discovered his hands and loves staring at them! He has a great grip and holds our fingers or shirts, or recently my hair. OUCH. He also looked at the drawstring of his pants, and reached over to it and tried to grab it. What a big boy!

He love loves LOVES the ceiling fan!! That definitely holds his attention the most, although his swing and bouncy seat are getting up there! He will play on the floor mat for a short while, but is still getting the hang of batting those toys. 

He still sleeps great! Shortly after he turned two months he started waking up around 2 again, but now is back to his 9:30 - 7ish stretch. He eats at that time and usually goes back to sleep til around 9. Ahh, it's bliss. I know I know, I shouldn't get used to it, but I sure am enjoying it.

Question. Why does it seem like first kids sleep more than the second?? I hope that's not the case, but Peyton's so easy I'm starting to get worried. I mean, the first one is when you have the most energy and time. Oh well. Maybe I'll have all easy kids.. HA.

He also drools. A lot. and sweats. Pretty much since day one.

Peyton loves to stretch on the floor and kick his feet forever! He also loves sitting in our laps, because he is constantly looking at stuff. One night last week he woke up around 4 and Drew snapped/whispered to me to come in his room. He was SO close to rolling over. We enjoyed watching/cheering him on... with our quiet voices of course.

He is still eating great for me! I am so blessed to have had no issues with nursing!
 

I discovered at my mom's last week that he looked like he was watching the TV. NOT OKAY. I'm telling myself it was just all the colors. Please tell me the same. I am not raising a kid that loves TV. We will see how long that thought lasts!

Peyton still loves baths and will just squeal at us while drenching us!

Bedtime routine is sticking pretty much the same. Besides first thing in the morning when he is super smiley and playful, bedtime is my favorite.

No, it's not because I have time to myself. I guess I should say, before bedtime is my favorite. We give him a bath around 830ish. He splashes/plays as long as he wants. Then we do the whole lotion/jammies thing. It also usually includes saline drops and vapor rub - our poor boy definitely has some allergies like his momma. He always seems to be sniffling! He will play so more on his changing table while also staring/laughing at the ceiling fan. (Have I mentioned he's in love with that? Not picky about which ceiling fan, he is in love with them all) Then we turn off all the lights except the night-light and we feed him a bottle. That's usually Drew time to feed/snuggle with him. While Peyton eats we pray with him. He usually burps an amen once or twice. ;) Then he conks out and we put him to bed. I LOVE THAT TIME. - not only is it a good habit for the future, but it has been great quiet time with Drew as Peyton drifts asleep.

Peyton definitely knows Drew and I and it definitely boosts our ego that we can get a smile from him pretty much whenever he sees us.

He has at least 3 naps during the day, occasionally 1 or 2 more cat naps if we are out. He has a late morning one, early afternoon, and an evening one. Usually the evening one is the longest, which concerned us at first because we weren't sure he would sleep at bedtime, but so far so good!

Our boy has a 'stink eye' that makes us laugh. He will raise one eyebrow like he's not so sure about whatever we are doing to try to make him laugh. He also has been referred to as "Thumper" a couple times because when he is super happy he will kick his one leg over and over and over again!

Our sweet baby boy is growing so big and we just love him oh so much!!

the things that get me through

Boppy - our friend

Camelbak water bottles - because pregnant women and nursing women need water... you can never drink enough. ugh.

homemade burp clothes

lanolin

zipper sleepers... NOT BUTTONED
 

The makings of a successful couple months with a newborn

Mornings

Drew and I love our mornings with our handsome boy. He is so happy - laughing and cooing and smiling up a storm. When it's just Peyton and me in the mornings, I hang out with him while he's happiest, and then let him watch the ceiling fan while I take a shower. I usually have about 30 minutes to get ready before he gets bored with it. :) I'll take it!

aannndd we're walkin'... we're walkin'...

When Audrey was here we had a great walk... although after probably ten minutes she wanted me to 'hold you'. Sure babe, anything for you. ;) She doe thoroughly enjoy the flowers, even the 'pretty yellow ones' AKA weeds. Drew disapproves.

Make Him Known

 To God's elect... strangers in the world, scattered throughout...

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can NEVER perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you...

1 Peter 1:1,3,4

I feel like I have been going through the past couple  years with the wrong mindset. Drew and I? We're missionaries. We are chosen to do Christ's work even though we are at 'home'. We may be happy and content or dissatisfied and rejected - but as long as we are in God's will, we should be joyful. It should not be about us being comfortable. Just because we are in our hometown doesn't mean life should be easy. God has called me to be set apart - different. I'm called to do what He commands no matter how difficult or lonely that might be. 

Some questions I have been asking myself lately are how can I better prepare my heart for this 'long term missions trip.' Any of you who have been on a missions trip knows it takes time and prayer in order to be spiritually and physically ready to go somewhere. I've been to Thailand and the Dominican Republic twice and have loved every aspect of those journeys. BUT I HAVE  A MISSION EVERY DAY! 

So what are the needs around me? What can I do as a stay at home mom/nanny/student in order to make God known?? What needs do Oakland Baptist Church have? How can I be a light to them? How can I daily pray and prepare myself for this trip that never ends??

The verse above has a great perspective on what our lives should be about. We should be giving praise to God for the fact our hope in Christ is constant. Nothing can change the fact that He loves me, He died for me, and He is alive. That's not something I can ignore or keep quiet about!

A blog I read the other day said that we can be afraid even while we rejoice. It was talking about when Mary found Jesus' tomb empty and there was an angel standing there. She was frightened, and yet joyful over what had happened. 

Life is tough. We all have difficult things come up in our lives. My prayer is that even when I am afraid of the unknown, or even known things that are difficult, I will rejoice. I will rejoice in the fact God truly does 'have the whole world in His hands.' Nothing that happens is a shock to Him. I can carry on with my missions work while He works out the details. 

I'm choosing to praise God for that!

the tears... they're a flowing

This is so cliche but my baby is growing up so fast! Seriously. My little man had such a great day yesterday, and as a result I found myself all teary-eyed on several occasions.

Why am I teary-eyed when things go great? Shouldn't I be crying when he is crying uncontrollably and I don't know what to do??

He was so content. He slept from 10 until 5, ate, and then slept til 9. He ate, was happy in the Beco carrier and then slept an hour and a half in it. Snuggled on my chest. Priceless.

I know I know. Why would I be weepy over a happy boy. It gets more pathetic.

He continued the day by playing on his changing table, all giggly and dancing. Moved to his crib, then sat on my lap a while. Ate some more, then played on his play mat. Then he was super smiley in the swing until he took another semi-decent nap.

 Some of you, at least my sister, are rolling your eyes now at my perfectly fine day. I'm not complaining, at least not in a 'woe is me' sort of way. Promise. 


After that there was some more kicking and giggling, lots of smiling, some eating. We took a car ride to the Batson, slept some more etc... Oh there was definitely some nasty smelling diapers in the mix, but even that resulted in nothing but smiling. after the grunting of course. Moving on.

I snuggled him while he took an evening nap, and we went to church where he was super happy through it.

OH. MY. WORD. Elizabeth held him in the row in front of us throughout business meeting. He was looking over her shoulder with this huge grin on his face when looking at either Drew or me. He knows us. And loves us. insert more tears. 

He endured many kisses and hugs and 'oh my word he's perfects' from people at church, and even tolerated our car ride to chick fil a. He got a bath with no complaints even though he had been awake and hadn't eaten in over 3 hours. He played while we lotioned him up and then guzzled a bottle while we prayed and admired our precious son.

I just love him. It amazed me that he only whimpered when he needed food or a snuggle, other than that there was no crying all day. He's growing up. Too fast. He smiles and kicks even when he wasn't being entertained. I LOVE this stage. But... I don't know how to explain it, he's just getting so big. So fast.

I promise you this. I may not get much else done in the day. I may not get straight A's in my classes because I study enough, or have a clean house. But I do stop and admire my Peyton. I find myself staring at him, kissing him too many times to count, and thank God numerous times throughout the day that I have him for one more day. I know God has blessed me with Peyton. I know that He could take him away from Drew and I at any second. Until He does, I am going to cherish every second, because they fly by.

and the tears, they aren't going to be stopping anytime soon. My heart may actually burst from how much I love him.

A First

My Redeemer Lives! We celebrated Peyton's first Easter by worshiping our Savior and then we counted our blessings by spending time with our wonderful family. Ah, what a great day!

tummy time... or if you're Audrey, it's stummy time!

better things

 I've thought about blogging many times this week. Fortunately for me, I've been WAY too busy with better things. Drew, Peyton and I had our friends Brandon, Sam-she and Kaehlen stay with us all week. They are moving to Roanoke, but couldn't get in their apartment until a week after they got out of their house. We couldn't have been more excited to have them there!

 We spent our days watching millionaire, having tummy time, sharing meals together, making sure our dogs got along, relaxing, among many other things.

Sure do love this sweet girl! YAY for the Lomasney's moving to town!