Father's Day

My little William has no idea how blessed he is to have a Daddy like Grant, but pretty soon I have no doubt that he will realize this. I always hear other mothers say that their love for their husband grows exponentially after having a child and I couldn't agree more. I am so thankful to have a husband that works as hard as Grant does to provide for our family, and then comes home and transforms right into his Daddy role. He is so attentive and nurturing to William and would do anything for our baby boy. It's pretty funny but the majority of the time I go to Grant before making any decision regarding William. Some questions I've asked Grant in the last 24 hours include: How many ounces of milk should we give him? What brand of wipes and diapers should I buy? Should I give him more tummy medicine? Do you think he is hungry again? Should we go ahead and put him in his crib? The list is ENDLESS.

Unfortunately, I couldn't pull my act together to make Grant's first father's day very special, but we did make it to church for the first time with William. He slept like an angel through the entire service. After church we had lunch at Dram with Julie, Mary Neal, Lee, and Taylor. It was delicious.

This picture sums up Grant's love for his little boy. This was William's first beach trip and instead of Grant being on the deck or out on the boat, he was inside taking a cat nap with his baby boy. They take lots of naps together, and it seriously makes my heart flutter every time I witness these sweet moments. 

As I sat in the sanctuary on Sunday morning listening to the sermon, my eyes welled up with tears while I watched William's chest rise and fall with each breath. I am so thankful for a healthy baby. Working with chronically ill children and their families has changed my perspective on health. I pray that I will never take one day for granted I have with my child. 

 Snoozin' in Lee's arms at Dram

First Play Date

William had his first play date this past Saturday night at Jenny and George's house. There were 4 babies, 2 toddlers, and 2 dogs, so it was quite eventful to say the least! We had a delicious meal prepared by the Doctors Nelson and Grant and I really enjoyed hanging out with other parents who have children close to William's age. Each baby spit-up at some point in the night which made us feel better about William's spitting up troubles. He was the youngest baby there but it's hard to tell because he is such a big boy!

 Before we left for the party while he was in a bit of a milk coma. 

 From left to right, Aarav (4 months), Liam (5 months), William (7 weeks), and Ann Parker (8 weeks)

 Sweet baby boys!

Jenny and her baby (Hudson) joined the crew!

William Lately...

William is changing everyday right before my very own eyes. I love watching him grow into a little person with the sweetest, funniest, most loving personality. I wish I could record every moment of every single day so I will forever have these precious moments engrained in my memory.

He's getting on a better schedule at night. Grant usually takes the first feeding "shift" which falls anywhere from 8pm - 12am. Then he'll usually wake up again between 2-3 and then again between 5-6. Occasionally he'll have a 4 hour stretch but he's usually up every 3 hrs. at night to eat. We give him 4oz. of breast milk with a scoop of formula to thicken it up. We did call the pediatrician this past week because he's been spitting up more than usual so now he takes Zantac twice a day. He is easy to put back down after night feedings, and I usually bring him to bed with me after the 5-6am feeding for some quality cuddle time. At night we swaddle him but keep his arms out because he doesn't like to be that restrained :)

He has really started smiling intentionally and it just melts my heart. The best smiles I get are in the middle of the night when I go get him out of his crib for a feeding or in the morning when we play on his activity mat. The majority of the smiles I catch are on my iPhone so I'll have to upload some of those later. 

 I definitely think he knows who his mommy is which is quite possibly the best feeling ever ;)

 William had a lunch date with his beautiful Aunt Lee Lee yesterday. 

 His favorite sleep position

Some other milestones the past couple weeks are finding his hands and really tracking things with his eyes. Whenever he's hungry his hands are practically down his throat and he makes the funniest panting noise while shaking his head ferociously back and forth. It is hilarious!!! He has a rather dramatic sneeze and cough that usually follows with a long "oooohhhhh" in a high pitched squeaky voice. We call it his girly noise.

I'm thinking the one trait he's going to have of mine are my eyes, but I have yet to capture his baby blues on camera. His eyes are always so dark in the pictures! Maybe I need a photography lesson?!

My peanut butter pie :)

Everyone that meets him is surprised that he's only 7 weeks old because he's quite the little chunker, and I LOVE me a fat baby. He gets so excited about eating!

A Dalbey, Derby Wedding

This past weekend, Grant and I headed to Lexington, KY for Megan and Jason's wedding. That's right....JUST Grant and I! My parents came up to Birmingham and graciously gave of their time, energy, and sleep to keep lil' William. Tears were shed by this mommy on Friday morning when we left Birmingham, but once we got a couple of hours outside of town, I finally got it together! Enough about me...on to the beautiful bride and handsome groom. The detail and thought that went into this wedding was like none that I've ever seen. Megan's amazing creative talents were apparent at every turn. It was phenomenal.

The weekend started with a tour at the Woodford Reserve distillery, followed by a fabulous dinner with incredible decor which was all designed by the bride herself!

Me and the beautiful, glowing bride

The beginning of bourbon!

Bourbon barrels

Adorable table decorations. Megan made the glasses. Shout out to Dishique! She and her mother-in-law sewed the precious seer sucker napkins that held the menu for the evening. 

Glasses made by Meg that we got to keep as a souvenir 

Each table was named after a past Kentucky Derby winner. 

The guests of honor. 

Place cards.

This was taken at the after rehearsal cocktail party hosted by the Dothan crew. It was at a bar called Hugo's. So much fun!

On Saturday morning, we all met in the bridal suite around 10 for hair and make-up before loading the bus at the hotel around 2pm to take pictures around Lexington. One of the stops included the Keeneland horse track, which was really neat to see. I can't wait to see the photographer's pictures. 

 Virginia and Meg

 I forgot to slip on my shoes before the picture...typical.

 Some of Meg's college friends

 You'll notice a very special YaYa is missing in this picture. Ragan's grandfather, Daddy Hall, passed away on Wednesday and his funeral was Saturday. I had the privilege of knowing her grandfather and he was an amazing family man that all fathers/grandfathers should aspire to be like. Ragan's cheerful, witty, fun spirit was certainly missed at the wedding, but she was right where she needed to be in Dothan with her family remembering her precious grandfather. 

 Delicious pistachio cake

 Megan wrote EVERY SINGLE GUEST a personalized note that was on the back of their name card. She is one of the most thoughtful, sincere people I know. What other bride would take the time and energy to do something like that?!?

 The beautiful couple

 Father of the bride...the one and only Pat Dalbey - love him!

 They danced to a slow Michael Buble song before breaking it DOWN to the tootsie roll. Hilarious and so Meg!

It was such a fun weekend, and I am so honored to have been a part of it! I missed my baby so much but I knew he was getting spoiled rotten in Birmingham by his Juju, Aunt Birdie, and Papa Steve :) I like to think he was excited when we were reunited Sunday afternoon, but I don't think he even realized his mama was gone. 

Weekend with my Boys

Grant, William, and I had a great weekend just hanging out as a little family of 3. Friday night we went to Newk's for dinner, and then came home and hunkered down for one of William's marathon eating episodes, which usually starts around 6pm and goes until about 1am. It's pretty bizarre because he will eat and eat and eat.... it's quite exhausting for mommy and daddy. He was such a big boy and slept in his crib for the first time on Friday night. To be completely honest, I was a little sad not having him in our room, but it's amazing how all of those little baby noises can keep you awake.

We slept-in Saturday morning before doing some serious cleaning around the apartment. I consider myself a neat freak, but it's crazy how quickly this place can look like a train wreck with a little one. It's so helpful to have an extra set of hands on the weekend. It's hard to get anything done during the week when it's just William and me, but I know eventually it will get easier.

We spent Saturday afternoon in the shade at the park. It was such a beautiful day, and William was very alert the entire time we were there. Saturday night we took it easy at home and braced ourselves for another night with our little night owl.

Our plan was to make it to church this morning but that did not happen! We didn't get moving until around 10. We ate lunch with Aunt Birdie, made a Target run, and then Skype'd with the Davis clan in Texas. We are soooo excited for their visit at the end of June. Here are a couple of pics from bath time this morning. This child LOVES a bath!

Grant and I are really excited about heading to Lexington, KY this weekend for my close friend Megan's wedding. My parents are coming up to Birmingham to keep William. I know it will be very difficult to leave him, but he will be loved and pampered all weekend by his grandparents and Aunt Birdie. I just hope they can survive the nights!