Before and after

and 7.5 inches later...

praise report!

I don't even know where to begin...

Thank You!

and

Praise the Lord!

seem to be good places.

After my (slightly ridiculous and overly emotional) post last week, I received so many emails, comments, texts and phone calls of encouragement. I was, again, overwhelmed. But this time- in the best possible way.

The Lord answered all of my prayers, in His perfect timing. I could list the specific instances of Spirit-filled conversations, increase in my milk supply (thanks for the recommendations! fenugreek, oatmeal, Gatorade, lots of water, let him nurse as long as he will), and overall attitude-improvement.

So we went back to the doctor this morning for Crawford's weight check. Last Monday he weighed 12 pounds, 11 ounces and she wanted him to gain .5-1 ounce per day (4-8 ounces). Today he weighs 13 pounds, 6 ounces. He gained 11 ounces!! The first thing Dr. Brannon said was "Praise the Lord!", which made my heart happy because that was/is exactly how I felt, and it was encouraging to know that she understood how much this meant to me. And yes, PRAISE THE LORD!!

He was happy as a lark today at the dr!

In other related-to-my-last-post news... I'm feeling and doing so much better. I have some fabulous friends who continually encourage me and tell me to chill out. I could not do life without these girls in my business day in and day out.

I do apologize for sounding (and being) whiny and complain-y. I have so, so much to be thankful for and I never want to take it for granted. I especially never want Crawford to feel like he is the source of my stress or issues. They are all mine, and he is nothing but total joy. He really is. I am sure as he gets older he'll become more trying, but for now I am enjoying this dreamboat baby I have the privilege of hanging out with every day. It is my dream job.

We spent much of the day Sunday hanging out at the lake, and it was just what I needed. Crawford (per usual) was perfect. When he needed a nap he took one. We laid him down inside once, and he slept on my chest in the shady part of the dock for another nap. It was refreshing to just do our thing, and take good care of C simultaneously. Like real life. Our little family.

 actually sucking on his thumb... uh oh!

I'm chilling out, and trying to just take every day for what it brings. If the little guy isn't on any sort of routine or schedule for another few months, so be it. He's happy and healthy, and that's what matters most. If we don't make it to play group for a month, oh well. It'll be there next month, and my friends totally understand.

I've been sad that our families are so far away, so Crawford and I are going on a road trip next week to Ohio! It may take us 10 hours to get there, but it is what this mama needs.

David doesn't have the Fourth of July off work, so he's taking this Friday off and my wheels are churning thinking of all the family fun we're going to have together! This is the last weekend for a while with not much on the agenda, and we're going to maximize our freedom!

So, all in all, thanks for listening to my rant(s). This blog really is just for our family to keep a record of our story, but it has been such a source of encouragement for me over the years. Sorry if I haven't texted/called/emailed you back yet, I will. I've been processing and praying and learning through this season, and I pray that doesn't end any time soon.

a rant.

What is wrong with me? I keep calling David in tears because I'm having a bad day... but, poor guy, I can't for the life of me explain why or what's wrong.

I've had to turn two pool play dates down today. That doesn't sound like much of a problem, right? I really have too many opportunities of stuff to do, and I have SUCH a guilt complex over turning anyone or anything down. But, now I have a kid and I'm trying to balance doing what's best for him and keeping my sanity. Also, I don't want to be one of those parents who schedules their life around their child's every breath, but I also want to make sure I'm taking the best care of Crawford that I possibly can. That's my JOB. 

Speaking of my job... I'm responsible for feeding this little boy. Just me. And, he's too small. 10th percentile for weight. I'm afraid my milk supply is decreasing, but I'm not sure how to know that for sure. He's been crying a lot during nursing, and sometimes I feel like it's because there's just not enough coming out. But then he sleeps 8-10 hours at night. Hungry kids don't do that!

I met some friends at the park, only to leave 20 minutes later. I get frustrated with myself because I want to hang out with my friends and their kids, but I over-estimate Crawford's ability to "play". He's FOUR months old, self! For example: playing in the fountains at Coolidge =  so fun! Unless you are four months old and can't even sit up by yourself. My sweet child is so go-with-the-flow, but I feel like I take advantage of him/that and do whatever I want to do. 

Oh, and can someone please make a day-long schedule of what I should be doing with my child when? I'd follow it, promise. I am just overwhelmed with not knowing when he should take a nap, etc.. Seriously. How do I establish a morning wake time? What should his bed time be? I would go to the pediatrician once a week just to talk through parenting stuff and get her expert opinion. Just now (after trying to get him to go down for a nap for a loooong time), I finally just let him fall asleep in my arms,

and I love it. 

I love him so much, I don't want to let him out of my sight ever (cue video monitor). Especially today I'm particularly clingy... pms, maybe??

We moved Crawford to his crib in his room for bed time on Monday night. It was brutal (for me). It actually was pretty brutal for David too because we slept in the guest room and that bed is way small for two people (sorry to all of our guests!). 

Crawford LOVES his paci. Sometimes during the night he stirs, and I usually just pop the pacifier back in and he goes right back to sleep. Well, that was easy when he slept right next to our bed. Now that he's UPSTAIRS, do I go up there and give it to him because I know it will put him back to sleep? Or, do I wait it out? Let him cry it out? Why do that when I know the paci would solve the problem??

And, my dog keeps crapping in the house. I could kill him. David walks him in the morning. I take him outside. He poops in the house. Anxiety, maybe??

I just looked at the calendar and it looks like we have only THREE weekends between now and the middle of October (the 20th) that are completely free. What?! It's JUNE.

Oh, and all I want to do is eat junk food. I've been trying to be better about my eating habits, and I've been doing really well lately (I made and ate squash with dinner on Monday!), but it's taking every ounce of my will power to not go make some funfetti  cookies ("for small group") and eat about half of them

So, I'm feeling frazzled. Which, I know... doesn't help my milk supply.

The end.

[four months]

One month:

Height- 20in

Weight- 8 lbs. 9 oz.

Two months:

Height- 23in
Weight- 11 lbs.

Three months:

Height- 23.5ish in.

Weight- 12 lbs.

Four months:

Height- 24 1/4 in. (25%)

Weight- 12 lbs. 11 oz. (10%)

Crawford, at four months old you...

• go to the church nursery every week. This is probably a bigger accomplishment for your mommy than you though :)
• have taken a bottle from Aunt Duck and Wai-Po. Both times we needed to leave you with them for a while, so we were counting on a successful bottle feeding, and you didn't disappoint. 

• had your first non-family-member babysitter: Mrs. Cook! It was so nice of her to keep you while I had a dentist appointment!
• take your paci out and sometimes put it back in (I think it's coincidence when that happens, but it's a joyous occasion, nonetheless)
• ROLL over! You definitely can do it, but you don't very often. And you're so close to rolling from back to front.

• are showing an increasing interest in Harley. He can keep you entertained for a while.
• love to be vertical. The jumperoo, exersaucer and bumbo are our friends. You still love to stand.

• are a SOUND sleeper. I typically vacuum your room while you're taking a nap. Hallelujah!

• aren't being swaddled anymore. You kept breaking your arms out of it, so we just stopped cold turkey. Instead, now you sleep in a sleep sack and it is so cute. Obviously, you love to sleep with your arms above you head and with a lovey.
• LOVE your loveys! We have snowman, a monkey and a bunny that are all in constant use. You snuggle right up with them and I have to keep a close eye on you to make sure you don't shove it in your mouth (but usually the paci is in it so I'm not too concerned).
• still sleep in our room. Sigh... I think I'm ready to move you upstairs in the next week. We'll see. 

• had a bit of a sleep regression last week, but you quickly leveled out back onto your awesome pattern (bed around 8:30, sleep until 6ish, eat and go back to sleep until usually around 8. One morning you slept until 9:40 though!). Even during the regression, you were still sleeping for 8 hours before getting up so I can't really complain.
• have had your first sickness. I took you to the doctor (actually ON your 4 month birthday) and you had a viral infection, which just threw you totally out of whack. Of course that was just in time for Mary Shelton's wedding weekend, so the very first time we had a sick baby we had to leave you with babysitters. Fortunately, they were Grandy, Wai-Po, Aunt Duck and Uncle Bill! I was SOOOO thankful they were here to take such good care of you!
• aren't so sure about naps... Some days you nap like a rockstar (2+ hour morning and afternoon naps) other days we get decent naps (1 hour in the morning, 2 in the afternoon), other days you and I have words over your nap rebellion.
• have a wide range of emotions. Evidence:

• fake cough (as you see in the video). You do it a ton.
• are a little fella. We're going back to the doctor next week for a weight check just to make sure you're growing well.
• are a total joy. We love you, buddy!

graduationS

These two graduated from Baylor! We are so proud of Patrick and Grace, and we canNOT believe they are headed off to college. When we first met these cousins they were about to start sixth grade, and man have they changed since then (duh). Patty is going to the University of Alabama (on a full ride in the Honors Program! Smarty Jones!) and Gracie is most likely going to the College of Charleston to pursue acting. They've got some good genes, those Bryant/Hudsons. Love them!  Hayden also graduated from Baylor- 8th grade, baby! We made a game time decision for David to go solo to that one, and he didn't take any pics of the grad :(. Crawford and I met up with the fam (minus Hayden actually...) for dinner at the Club after the ceremony, and per usual our little man was as easy going as ever. I'm thankful he likes to be on-the-go!

This little boy went to graduation with his mommy. Of course it was raining cats and dogs when we got there, but Hayden helped us get in and settled. He was a dream for the entire ceremony, and I think he provided some adorable entertainment for the people sitting around us.

After graduation, the weather turned gorgeous and David met us for a brunch at the Hudsons' house. It was so fun to be with so many of the Hudson/Bryant family members. This picture is the group of Baylor students/grads (John, Patrick, Mary Shelton, Joe, Grace, Jimmy, Chuck, Derek, Hayden, Eason).

 love these two!

PS- That makes three graduations (MS from Samford, Patrick from high school and Hayden from 8th grade) and a wedding (MS + Pat next weekend!) in one month for the B's! Whew!

SFL: Lookouts Game

We didn't take any pictures at the actual game, but this was in the car on the way there. Crawford busted out his baseball cap (thanks, Sheri!) and I don't think it gets much cuter than this!

We should have taken pictures at the game though, because our group was awesome slash hilarious. We were with the Slattons, Linhosses, Arnolds, Ehingers and Greg making a raucous with all of our crazy babies. Fortunately, it was a baseball game and no one cared. Then, we traipsed across downtown to eat dinner at Lupi's and I kept snickering at what our lives look like now. We took up half of the restaurant, two of us were nursing, two kids were passed out asleep on their moms, we had car seats and diaper bags and paraphernalia EVERYWHERE. It was hilarious and real life. I loved it.

SFL: swimming

David bought a fun inflatable pool, and we took advantage of the gorgeous weather to let Crawford test it out. He didn't hate it, but he didn't love it either... We'll be trying again soon!

And yes, we looked like rednecks in our front yard baby pool...

We'll cross it off of our Summer Fun List!

visit with the Rhineharts

The Rhineharts spent a weekend with us in May, and it was such a special visit. I still can't believe I have a kid that they came to hang out with. I never expected how much it would mean to me to watch other people love and love on my child, but it is one of the sweetest parts of being a parent. All five of the Rhineharts were SO sweet to Crawford. And, they put up with our craziness for the weekend. They got into town on Thursday night and we had TWO showings on Friday. What a pain! We did lots of hanging around and baby holding, plus we crossed off one of our Summer Fun List items: the Duck Tour! We love this family so much and hope they come back soon!