On the Verge...

If you've been following us for the past few months, you may remember this blog I posted about the baby products I had found the most essential for our newborn. Well, obviously he has grown and things have changed. Not that those things weren't the essentials for that time. They were. And I would still endorse them. But we are in a whole new realm of infancy now, and have a whole new list of essentials. Part 1: Feeding Medela Slow Flow Bottles: I previously endorsed the Playtex Drop ins Nurser bottles. And they were the best for Abram up until about 6 months. Then, all of a sudden, after making it all the way up to the fast flow nipples, he started freaking out while he was taking his bottle. We actually had friends babysit him and they said that it seemed like it was torturing him. I'm not sure what happened. We think that the flow was just too slow for him. He has gotten extremely efficient at nursing and only takes about 15 minutes total. So the next night

"Yea!!!" Our close friends, Danny and Abby McReynolds, are expecting a baby in the middle of July. I was kinda hoping that their baby would be closer to Abram (I think that Danny and Abby were hoping, too...), but God's timing is perfect, and little McBaby will come exactly when he or she is supposed to! And, besides, 8 months is not that much in the scheme of things. We went to their shower this weekend. It was a co-ed shower, so Quinn and Abram got to come, too :) Here are Danny and Abby: Danny Abby I should have gotten a picture of them together, but alas, I wasn't thinking. Abram did surprisingly well and didn't fuss at all! Considering he was long overdue for a nap and Abby's brother, Nathan, was playing with him in the backyard a lot of the time, that was amazing. He really is getting to be much more fun and easy going... knock on wood. He was also entertaining himself by ch

"Well, hello there!" It's so crazy that Abram is starting to become a real little boy. He is doing more and more things on his own, like sitting up, grabbing at everything, rolling over both ways, and taking better naps (although right now we are having a battle of the wills nap time). And as he gets older, he is looking more and more like what he will look like for good. Quinn and I have a hard time identifying who he looks more like. We can see that he looks like me when I was a baby: but aren't sure how much he looks like either one of us now . He has been sleeping better at night, but we've had a few issues. We think it's growth spurt related and are expecting him to grow out of all his clothes any day now! We have just had to concede to his desire to sleep on his tummy and we pray every night for his protection. He likes to sleep with his little butt up in the air. It doesn't really look comfortable, but it's pretty darn cute. Eating is

It has finally arrived. Abram will be six whole months tomorrow! And, boy, how times have changed since that fateful afternoon 26 weeks ago. I sit here, surrounded by toys, covered in slobber and sour milk, my arms stronger and my joy more full. It really is true that you love your kids more and more every day. I mean, I loved him when he was born, but not like this. Now I honestly can tell him I love him for everything that he is and his little personality and all of the adorable things that he does and just because he is my son. I think it's taken this long for me to really feel like I had a son, too. Still a little strange to use that word, but I'm sure I'll get more and more used to it as he becomes more boy and less baby. Tomorrow we are having a gathering at our house. It is really just to get our community group and neighbors and friends together, but it just happens to be Abram's half birthday. So I think we will celebrate. Maybe with these cute summe

"SURPRISE!!!" I made what I (humbly) think is pretty neato gift for my mom for Mother's Day. I really wanted to show it off here, but we put it in the mail on Monday and I am hoping that it will get to her today or tomorrow. And if it doesn't and you are seeing it for the first time, Mom, Happy Mother's/Teacher's Day!! She is also an incredible kindergarten teacher and last week also happened to be Teacher Appreciation Week. I figured that since, as my mom, she was by far the best teacher I ever had, I would make her something that she could use in her classroom. The pictures are from my iphone and, therefore, not incredible. But you get the idea. I wanted it to look like notebook paper. If I had it to do over again, I would take the time and hand embroider the lines so that they were darker. The machine definitely did a faster job, though. I also wanted the writing to look like kid writing, so that's why it's a little wonky. I would ha

This post is not for the faint of heart. And I am not just saying that. If you are not a parent (maybe even more specifically, a mother), you may need to consider stopping right here. Or scroll quickly through to look at the few pictures and scoot yourself right back to Facebook, or wherever you came from. If you do not have kids, but think you might be ready to have kids, this could be a deal breaker for you. So continue at your own risk. You have been warned. Tonight, I feel I truly became a mother. Up until this point, I really thought I would do anything for Abram, but I had never been called on to do too much out of the ordinary. Sure, I've lost a lot of sleep and made a lot of stupid faces and noises and been peed on and spit up on, but these all felt like normal baby-caring things. A babysitters' resume would look similar. But tonight, I crossed a line. THE line. The Mommy line. Since we started feeding Abram solids in the last few weeks, we have noticed that