Mmm-mmm Veggies!

Carrot face

Helping me feed him

Green beans - yummy!

So far Will loves his veggies. We tried carrots first, and are now on green beans. We started out about a month ago with rice cereal and after several attempts he just wasn't eating much. So we took a break and tried again but he spit up a lot after eating some, so we switched to oatmeal. He played around with that and again we took a break. Then I thought, well, maybe he just doesn't like the bland stuff? I was right because as soon as the carrots hit his mouth he was very eager for more. He really seemed to like them and was guiding my hand with his. After 4 days of carrots with no apparent allergies, we tried green beans and he loves them as well. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of the stains these new foods are causing. I know it's just the beginning though. Breastmilk doesn't cause stains like formula can so I haven't had to rush to get stuff in the laundry like I do now. Once I rule out allergies to the common foods I plan to start making my own baby food. It will be a lot cheaper than buying Gerber!

Farewell Gator PJ's...Hello Stripes!

Will has outgrown his gator pj's. They were my favorite. It would just tickle me every time I saw him in them. But now he's grown into some cute striped ones, which I think are my new favorites. I don't know why, but I just love a baby in footy pajamas!

4 month stats

Will had his 4 month checkup last week and he was:

17lbs (75th percentile)

25.5 in. (75th percentile)

head circ ? (90th percentile)

He got his shots and did great! He did run a fever for the next day and even though I knew it was because of the vaccinations, it still made me nervous! I'm glad he got over it quickly. I had to work that night and the next 2 nights so I was hoping he wouldn't get too ill. I hated leaving him when he didn't feel good!

A year ago today...

The good news!

A shocked and happy daddy

A very happy mommy

I found out I was pregnant! It was one of the most exciting days I have ever experienced. I woke up at 4:30 am and decided to go ahead and test. I had already gotten a few negative tests so I was not expecting any good news. I actually had a 'go ahead and get this over with' feeling because I was pretty sure I wasn't pregnant and was considering taking a break for awhile because Brad was thinking about going back to school. Since we had been trying for several months and pregnancy tests are expensive, I bought some cheap ones online. They weren't fancy at all - pretty much just strips that have lines on them. I figured out that day that they're also very hard to see! After I took the test and it looked negative, I shrugged it off and started to throw it away. Then the faintest second pink line caught my eye. I got really excited and started pleading with the tests to "Please be right!". I took another test, then another and saw very faint pink lines on all 3. I was so happy I couldn't go back to sleep. I didn't want to tell Brad the good news then have to be apart at work all day, so I decided to wait. We both went to work and during my lunch break I went and got a digital test and a card for him. I also got a shirt that said "Preggo Princess" and put it on under my scrub top. I got home and wrapped a book that I had previously bought called "The Expectant Father" then I took the test. When he got home I calmly sat on the couch and told him I had gotten something for him. He opened the card and when he read "You're gonna be a daddy!" his eyes nearly popped out of his head! He couldn't believe it. He kept asking "Are you serious?" and "Are you for real?". He opened the book and I showed him my shirt and the test. He was really excited but pretty shocked! We only managed to keep it a secret for a week before we told our parents. We had planned to wait until Grandparent's Day a few weeks later but we were going out of town with his parents and I thought I'd bust if I were in the car with them for 4 hours. That week seemed like an eternity but time has flown since then. It has been quite a year and God has blessed us with a beautiful child for whom we are very thankful.

Family Date Night

Our little family

The future Mr. and Mrs. Sharp???

Stephanie, Josh and Sadie

Brad showing Will the fountain

We went to Biaggi's Italian restaurant last night with the Murpheys. Their daughter Sadie is almost 10 weeks younger than Will. We've gotten together a few times since Sadie was born but have never gone in public with both babies. It was interesting! All 6 of us managed to pile in the Tahoe which wasn't that bad. Stephanie and I climbed into the 3rd row then our hubbies put the babies in the second row. We just couldn't get out until one of the kiddos was taken out.

Biaggi's has a nice courtyard area with fountains and 1/2 walls you can sit on so we weren't cramped in a small waiting area for 45 mintues while we waited for a table. We were seated by the open kitchen which was great because if either of the babies cried, the kitchen noise drowned them out. I'm sure the staff did that on purpose! All in all they were both very good. They each had a bottle and took a nap and really didn't fuss much considering we were there for over 2.5 hours. It was a fun night!

Chunky Monkey

I love these little chubby legs and arms and pudgy cheeks! It cracks me up how he likes to stick his tongue out, too!

Katie's Wedding

The Newlyweds

Oliver watching Thomas the Train on an iPod

(his 'pacifier' per his dad)

Yummy looking cake

Alex showing us something

Joseph and Will

Will and his Pop

My parents (please excuse the yellow bow behind my mom - it's not in her hair!)

Me and my boy

Grammy and Will

My dad, his parents and his brother (father of the bride)

My cousin Katie got married yesterday. It was a beautiful wedding and she was a gorgeous bride. The only picture I got of the whole wedding party was blury because Will was fussing, but I got lots of pics of the rest of the family. Above are some of my favorites. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Parker!

I love my mom

She is so great with Will. I guess you learn a lot of your parenting skills and techniques from your own parents, so I feel like she is most like me when it comes to taking care of him. I'm glad we live just a few minutes away from her. Isn't she pretty?

TGIF

Thank Goodness It's Friday tomorrow! I am so thankful for my new job and that I like the unit I am on and so far have great coworkers. But in my heart's desire is to stay home with Will and I have missed him so much this week. I really don't see how people do it - you work all day then finally get to go home with your child except for now there is housework to do and dinner to cook. By the end of the day you're exhausted and really you haven't seen your child that much. I just need to make it through tomorrow and then Monday thru Friday next week. After that I will work 3 or 4 days a week and only 4 hours somedays. I feel like I am missing out on so much though! Brad's parents told me Will was very close to rolling over today. I want so badly to be there when he does it, so I told him to please hold off on doing it until the weekend!

Our God is an 'On-Time' God

That is what our new preacher told us yesterday. His 3 1/2 year old son sang that to him last week (instead of Our God is an Awesome God) and he passed the thought on to us. He said we need to remember that, and I was thankful for the reminder. We may get in a hurry to move on to the next step or have our prayers answered now, but God's timing is always perfect.

I quit my hospice job in June. If I hadn't, I would have had to be back on July 2nd after taking a 12 week maternity leave. I didn't have a new job lined up and wasn't sure where I was going to go, but I felt like I was not supposed to return to that job. I was believing that God would provide a new job for me and it would be exactly what I needed, though my heart's desire was to stay home with Will. It doesn't take much effort for a nurse to get a job because nurses are needed everywhere, but it can take some time to get just the right one. I started getting nervous when I wasn't getting any callbacks for interviews. I tried to be confident in faith that I would be working by August and start earning money before our savings was depleted. The devil was trying to convince me that I had made a mistake in leaving the hospice job. I talked to a nurse maganer at the hospital close to our house and she offered me a full-time weekend position, which I turned down. Brad is off on the weekends so I would never see him if that's when I worked. She said she would see what else she had and get back with me. I waited and waited and got more and more nervous. I knew our parents would help us make ends meet if we ran out of money but I didn't want it to get to that. One Friday I told God I REALLY needed something to happen soon. The nurse manager called me back an hour later and offered me a PRN (as needed) position on the pediatric med/surg unit. She got my paper work processed immediately and I started my new job today! This is perfect because since I'm on Brad's benefits, I don't need to work full-time to get them. I can work the hours I want and make more per hour since I'm PRN. I have to work everyday for the next 2 weeks during orientation, but after that I'll be home at least 3-4 days a week with Will. If the manager had waited any longer I would have had to wait until September for the next orientation. Our God is and on-time God. He knows just what we need and he does answer prayers. I am so thankful for the almost 4 months I've had with my son and that God provided a job that will allow me to work some and be at home a lot.

Aloha!

These are for Kit. Thank you so much for his adorable outfit!

Z is for Zachary

Zach is my friend Sharon's little boy. He just turned 2 last week and is so sweet and funny and a delight to be around. These pictures are from when Will was 5 days old and they came to visit. He wasn't that interested in the baby, but Sharon has told me he often asks about "Sarah" and "baby". Sometimes he refers to me as "T.T." We don't know why he calls me that, but I think it's adorable! I hope that Will turns out to be an easy going little boy like Zach and that they can become buddies one day!

Y is for Yummy

First bite of cereal

Not too sure about this!

I think I'd rather have milk now.

2nd day - it's going a lot better.

I decided to go ahead and try Will with some rice cereal. He looked like such a big boy sitting in his high chair. He didn't tolerate it too well because he was hungry and lost his patience very quickly. I nursed him then tried again. I think he pushed most of it out with his tongue. The next day I learned from our first try and nursed him first. He was a lot more willing to try it that time. The first three pics are from our first try and the last one is from the second day.