Saturday, November 22, 2014

3 Months & 3 Stockings

...and about 3 minutes to blog. It's so challenging to find time, but I don't want to give it up!

Preston turned 3 months this week. Such a sporty little guy...



It's pretty crazy how much things can change in another month's time.
I remember when all I wanted was for him to hold his head up on his own. Such a small feat you might think, but a whole new world of possibilities opens up when babies can hold their head up unassisted.

He's now able to sit in his carrier facing outward and loves it...


He never liked his Bjorn (or any other carrier for that matter) much before, even though I have tried many. I think he has claustrophobic tendencies like his parents or something. Plus, even though it had been ages since he's breastfed, he'd start motorboating my cleavage anytime I tried to wear him towards me...even if he wasn't hungry.  It was funny to an extent, but not so productive an event for him or I. I'm thrilled he can now hang out facing the world and likes to be worn. We even vacuum the house together.

We've been doing a little special ops training in the mornings to strengthen his neck even more, and practice the art of rolling over...




Preston has also developed a love for books! Hallelujah! He showed little interest the first couple months when reading to him, but I just kept trying until he was able to focus on the images and hold his head up more to enjoy what he was looking at. All of a sudden he started really getting into story time. It's so fun to see the expressions on his face and the reactions in his developing voice...it's easy to tell which books and pictures are his favorites. He gives plenty of input himself, and I try to pause and let him talk during story time, so he knows I'm listening and involving him.



We're still on a tight budget while hubby's not working, so purchasing many toys hasn't happened. However we're slowly building our book collection however possible. The public library is limited on things his level and have very few board books, but we cleaned out their shelves this week.

I have a feeling the store Half Priced Books is going to be a popular place for us. They don't give you squat for trading in your old books, but their books for sale are pretty cheap, some on clearance for only $1. We traded in old books of ours and walked away with a small stack of few new ones for only $7! Crazy cheap!


Thankfully P has become MUCH easier to take out in public solo. Little to no screaming for diaper changes, and the weather has cooled off so he's more comfortable in his travel system. The past few times I've taken him out by myself he's been a breeze to manage. He barely mutters a peep and is quite content with car rides. He smiles whenever I go to put him in his car seat now. Lord, please let this last forever!

I've joined a few meetup groups for moms as well, and we went to our first outing together this week...an inflatables bounce gym. Of course, he couldn't bounce, but I think it's good for both of us to get out and socialize. He ended up sleeping the whole time despite the ruckus that was going on... at least I know he can be civil if I take him out with groups now. ha!

Perhaps the best moment of the month has been decorating for Christmas. Yes, I know it's still early to be decorating, but the cold snap last weekend had us feeling festive! For the first time in years we hung stockings...and 3 of them, praise God! I had a momentary breakdown in the holiday isle when purchasing them, thinking back to the other holiday seasons, going through fertility treatments and losing pregnancies. Finally, we have 3 stockings!



One thing that sucks THE MOST when experiencing infertility is the holidays. You force yourself to decorate and give gifts. You try your best not to cry at every turn, but all you want to do is crawl into a hole and hide from the heart-wrenching stream of family cards that show up endlessly in your mailbox. I have not, for one second, forgotten about all of my sisters in infertility who are still on their journey to parenthood. Hang in there, because you will get your family eventually, and when you do it will change your entire perspective, I promise!

This is the first year in quite a while I've truly embraced Christmas and soooo much of the bitterness I had before is POOF, gone. It doesn't hurt that we now have a little help decorating...


I am just as much a bucket of tears these days, but it's for completely different reasons. Where I used to be overcome by sorrow every day, I'm now overcome with joy...and maybe still a few weird hormones left over after pregnancy? Seriously, am I going to be a hormonal mess forever? I'm going to become one of those old ladies walking around with tissues in my purse and a spare pack to hand them out in church.

Lastly, speaking of the holidays, we created a "wish list" on amazon for Preston, so that relatives who ask can see what he can use and can purchase gifts easily online. I'm noticing that practically everything runs on batteries these days. I have a few old school things like blocks and the "Farmer Says" toy, but would love any suggestions on good toys to get a baby under 1 yr. old that do not run on batteries. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

23 comments:

  1. Oh Emily this is beautiful! I'm impressed at how much you can get down in3 minutes! I have 4 posts stared and have yet to finish one or get a good start to just one! So happy for your 3 stockings! I think christmas for me this year will leave me weepy - emotional - thankful as well. Xoxo

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    1. Oh, I should have known I couldn't get a blog in that quickly...took more like 3 hours to actually press submit, between laundry and taking care of P! What a difference a year makes, right?

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  2. Oh my goodness! He is so so cute!!!
    Seeing those stalkings brought tears to my eyes. How beautiful! I am so excited for you to celebrate the holidays as a family of three! So so happy for you! I can relate in being emotional for the opposite reason/feelings than when being always trying and in the trenches :)
    ...and how cute you are too! I didn't know you could read so early to a baby (good for me to know)!

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    1. Oh and I love Preston's smile on cue in the video! So adorable! He's amazing!

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    2. You can definitely read to them that early. Don't get discouraged if he/she isn't interested at first. You can even start with black and white books, since babies don't see all colors at first..black and white stuff is supposed to be good for their development very early.

      Now, I look for books that are full of colorful images and that have rhyming text. He is much more interested with books that rhyme. We even went to storytime at the library (he did the Hokey Pokey dance) but the video was too big to upload on here apparently. It was so cute!

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  3. The stockings... We've had a mishmash since Noah was born. We had two that Brian and I bought when we got married, then his mom gave us Brian's childhood stocking when Noah was born. This year we ordered a set of four with our names embroidered on them. When we hang them I'm sure I'll cry. Finally a complete family!

    I'm so impressed with P's skills! What a strong little man. We're still working on that head control.

    Enjoy your Thanksgiving this week! I wonder what you're thankful for? ��

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    1. Hmph, I don't think my winky face showed up at the end!

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    2. I hope you'll post pics of your FOUR stockings too Lisa! And now I'm crying again. Make it stop! lol

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  4. I just ordered our THREE stockings and can't wait to get them and hang them up! I'm the same when it comes to a basket of emotions, but for such different reasons now! :)

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  5. You look fabulous!! I am so glad to hear things are going so well. I remember Paloma got a lot easier around that time too.

    I am so excited for Christmas and to create our own family memories. I think it's an even bigger deal for us than most first time parents because of how hard previous holidays were...

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  6. Em, I'm so glad you are enjoying the holidays in a deeper level this year. Preston is adorable that video is priceless. I'm sure the Lord has a great plan for and your family.

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  7. Oh my goodness! He is such a beautiful baby boy!!!

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  8. Could he be any cuter, seriously? I love all the pictures and holiday decor!!! You are on top of it!!!! Great deal with the books too! Love half price!

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  9. Awww he is so cute! Glad things are easier and you can take him out and he's really good! And yay for 3 stockings!

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  10. Hormonal mess forever...YEP! 17 months later and I still am. The world is a different place once you have children <3

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  11. Look at you getting an early start on your decorating! We've had snow for awhile now, but Bobby won't let me put anything up until after Thanksgiving. I love the 3 stockings! So much for you to celebrate this year!

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  12. He is so cute and getting so big!! He's absolutely perfect. I'm so happy that you finally are getting to experience the joy of the holidays without the ugly infertility cloud hanging over you. I wish this Christmas to be the very best for you!!!

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  13. He's so precious! I'm glad you're getting out more and experiencing so many fun milestones with P. And yay for 3 stockings!!!!

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