In the Name of the Father...

From my prayer journal, January 24, 2013

Dear God,

Thank You for this day. Thank You for my Bills. Thank You for our health. Thank You for our friends and family who care about us so much and have prayed so many prayers for us. Thank You for Dr Salter and the care he provides. Thank You for guiding me to a good doctor and for using him to lead us through this pregnancy. 

Lord, I pray for tomorrow. I pray for the birth of baby Bill, the son You created just for us. Lord, please guide the hands of Dr Salter, the pediatrician, the nurses and the anesthesiologist. Please bring peace and calm to Bill and me and Mom. Lord, please be our strength and give us courage. Lord, please let baby Bill be born healthy and strong. I pray our hearts and our minds are prepared for this gift. Lord, I pray You'll take away my fear and replace it with trust in You. You have carried us so far. You have blessed my life in countless ways. Lord, You've saved me from more than I can imagine. You've saved me from the Enemy by no other reason than Your own; because You love me.

You love baby Bill, too. You love him even more than I do. You are his keeper. You are his provider. You wrote the book of his life. I am not afraid for these reasons. I am not afraid of tomorrow or the next day, or the next, because You love him. He is Your child and he belongs to You. I belong to You. Every corner of my soul wants to follow You. Lord, please guide me to where You are, where You go.

Tomorrow will be a day I will never forget for as long as I live. Every sight, sound, and smell will stay on my heart. Baby Bill will leave my body but he will stay very much a part of me forever. Lord, I will hold and treasure every moment. Through all the years of my life, I will think of the last nine months and tomorrow and I will smile, even if through tears. And I will know how much You love me to have given me this gift. And I hope You will know how very much I love you too.

Amen

Baby's First Virus

Last Sunday Will woke up w a fever. It didn't come as a surprise as my mom, Bill and David (who lives w my mom), all got sick w sinus/URI's at the same time. Will had a mild cough and his fever broke w Tylenol and actually didn't come back. But the cough got worse so we took him to the pedi last week who confirmed he had a virus w asthmatic onset. He's on two separate inhalers and took Prednisolone for 3 days. It's common for babies to develop asthma when they get URI's and doesn't necessarily mean he'll have chronic asthma, (although he's got a higher propensity; my mom has it). But with inhaler use this early there's a better chance of warding asthma off in the future or at least making it more manageable and less severe. It's funny b/c I remember one of my Oh Shit moments while pregnant was after I read an article online about peanut consumption while pregnant being linked to childhood asthma. By the time I'd read that it was too late - I'd been eating peanuts for months daily. And I've since read reports that said there's no merit to that study b/c it hasn't been duplicated, but still makes me wonder...

To my sister and friends who've had seriously ill babies: my hat's off to you. Having a sick baby is very stressful. You're usually sleep deprived yourself, you don't know what to do, if you work you juggle your workday with taking care of baby; it's reminded me a lot of the newborn days - doing whatever you gotta do to survive! The helplessness I felt also reminded me of those days in the trenches, trying any and everything at the hopes it would help Will. I've prayed a lot this past week for parents of seriously, chronically sick kids. Parenting is hard. A week with a sick baby was exhausting. God bless those families who weather that storm every day.

What I've learned since experiencing my first truly sick kid:

1. Don't wait to call the pedi. Will didn't have a fever and his energy level was normal and he was still eating so I thought we'd be ok to "wait and see." All the websites' guidelines about when to call the pedi didn't seem to warrant it but I should've gotten him started on meds sooner b/c he really did need them.

2. Don't assume the worst. Let the pedi do the diagnosing.

3. Don't be afraid to try something, even if you think it won't work. I am happy to say Will is sleeping in the Pack n Play at home now! My mom suggested we try it b/c he slept so great in hers. I was skeptical we'd have the same luck but voila! He's been a lot more comfortable in it than the swing and thanks to Bill's great camera rigging I don't worry about him in it all night.

4. Be nice to your husband. Bill and I bickered for days b/c we were stressed and sleep deprived, much like when Will was a newborn. I've got the best husband in the world b/c he shares literally half the workload w me - he's gotten up at 12 and 6 am every day to give Will his inhaler. He took care of him all w/e so I could sleep (I got my own head cold). When you're stressed you take it out on your partner, we all do it. But say you're sorry, hug them and kiss them; show them how much you appreciate them. 

5. Take care of you too. If your kid gets sick chances are you will too. Or you'll at least be really tired. Let your husband or someone take over for you for a while so you can sleep or exercise or go out of the house for a minute. It makes dealing w what's going on at home that much more manageable. 

This won't be the last time Will gets sick but hopefully the first time, like most things, is the hardest/scariest. We learn as we go!

Months 10 & 11

If I kept up with this blog better I could recall all of Will's events better, but here are the major ones anyway. At 11 months Will:

• Is cruising, standing solo and walking with a walker! I predict he'll be walking on his own by his first birthday.
• Is eating more like a toddler. He's drinking 24 - 28 oz/day of formula + 2 -6 tbsp of finger food 3x/day. He loves bread, cheese, pasta, spaghetti, turkey, chicken, cheesy biscuits, pancakes, bagels with cream cheese, carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, oatmeal, mashes potatoes, avocado, quesadillas, ravioli, Gold fish, Mum Mums, Cheerios. He is not picky! At all.
• Waves bye-bye and points with me when we say goodnight to all the inanimate objects in his room, (something I've done myself with him every night for months).
•  Will now sit still long enough to hear an entire (short) story book.
• Says mama! The only time this is bad is when he's crying and saying mama. It kills me!
• Lifts his arms/reaches out to be picked up/held.
• Has 6 teeth total - 4 on top, 2 on bottom.
• Still sleeping in the swing at home. The only way with Will is CIO method I'm afraid. The last time I put him in his crib he cried so hard he puked. I'd never felt more awful. I haven't tried again since...
• Loves playing peek-a-boo, Bill's guitar, iPhones/iPad, computers, tupperware, his new walker and activity table he got for Christmas.
• Does not love the car seat. This is relatively new. He doesn't really cry, he just whines. And whines. And whines. It'll be time to get a convertible seat soon so maybe having a bigger seat will help.

We had a great holiday! We stayed home. Thanksgiving we did the Dallas Turkey Trot for the first time which was fun and will be our new family tradition I think. We went to my mom's for dinner. That's just a must! My sister and her family came to town for a week for Christmas which was wonderful! We hadn't seen them since July and the kids absolutely love to play together. My nieces, 5 and 2 yo, love Will and play so nicely with him. It's going to be such a joy to watch them grow together throughout the years. We took the girls to the American Girl Doll store at the Galleria which was quite the experience! I think the adult girls were just as googeley-eyed as they were! We spent time with my Dad and Pat which is always nice. Overall, it was just a peaceful, yet very very busy, holiday. And so incredibly special this year. The memories we made will stay with me for the rest of my life.

And now it's January and next on my radar is Will's first birthday! I won't even try to explain how crazy it is that he's almost one already, but I'm so glad I have this blog and his baby book and album as a reminder of every smile, milestone, celebration and challenge.

It's hard to imagine 2014 could top 2013 but it's already off to a great start! Bill starts a new job on the 13th. This is a great move for him. He was recruited by his former VP that left the company. This office will be 10 mi's away from home, he'll be reporting directly to a VP, and he's one of the newest members to a new team this VP is building. Lots of room for growth which is just what he wanted! He's going from a mega corporation to a small company which, having been on both sides, I think he's really going to love working for a small company. He'll be across the hall from the CEO. And the 22% salary increase is a major blessing! Will starts daycare in March, (my mom is moving), so that will certainly alleviate that added expense. Please keep Bill in your prayers as he begins this new adventure!

As for me, I am finally back into all my pre-pregnancy clothes, running four miles and able to do chin ups again! I'm by no means close to my goal yet (a 10k), but it's been fun getting back in to shape (seriously!).

While me and my family have been blessed beyond measure, a very close family member was hit with some terrible news recently. So please pray for strength, courage and healing for my family. I'm praying all of our loved ones have a blessed and especially memorable 2014. I have 10 friends/family members having babies this year so far, 3 of which will be our new nieces/nephews! Nothing brings joy like a baby.

Happy New Year to you all. Cheers!

The Holidays In Pictures

Aunt Carolyn

Grandma & Guppy

I had to add this one. Insert funny caption here

No tears! He was just very serious about it...

We took Will to a rec center in Plano for swim lessons. Waaaay cheaper than the swim schools. He loves the water and we had a great time!

Can you tell I've been working out?! :)

One of the only places on the internet you'll see me w/o make-up!

The baby gates did the trick!

First Thanksgiving at Grandma's

Indeed....

Being silly with Dad during one of our weekly jaunts at Walmart.

We did the Dallas Turkey Trot for the first time this year. It was cold but we had fun! I think it may be our new family tradition.

This was our Christmas card. We used the Picture People in Frisco. I'd recommend them; they did a great job. Will was actually sick with a stomach virus the day these were taken. He's such a good baby he still gave us great photos.

This is my favorite funny face of his. He scrunches up his nose like this and breathes in and out as fast as he can. 

Caught on camera!

 

<3 x 3

Who couldn't love Texas winters? 55 degrees and sunshine!

Will and PaPa Pat