Eight Months

How is my child already 2/3 of the way through his first year?? Little man is on the move these days and his means of transportation is rolling not crawling. He has not really showed much interest in crawling but has started to act like he wants to pull up. Maybe he will skip crawling and go straight to walking. As long as he is walking by the time his brother or sister is born! He has 3 top and 4 bottom teeth in and 1on the top that is trying to pop through. He continues to look just like his daddy and I don't really see that changing anytime soon! After his first hair cut, he looks more like a little man than a baby{tear!}. He is still saying "Mama" and has started saying "bye bye" while trying to wave. Daddy keeps trying to get him to say "Dada" and I think he is so close!

Seven Months

Another month has passed and another month closer to his first birthday! He is still one happy little boy and we couldn't be more thankful for that! Alex always says, 'Were not going to know what to do if our next child is a normal baby' and he's right. Mak rarely cries and the only time is when he is hungry. We have been back and forth to the doctor because of a cough that Mak has developed and Dr Mubarak is trying to narrow down what it could be since he has had it for so long. Allergies maybe? Ugh! Other than that, he's still a growing little boy!

Happy Half Birthday Baby Boy!

Baby Boy has officially got the mid point of his first year! It's funny how slow time goes when you're pregnant and how fast time goes once they are born. Mak is growing so fast and is still the most laid back baby. He is loving going to school and I think it's safe to say, his teachers love him too! We took him to his 6 month well check up and he weighed in at 19 lbs 3 oz{75th percentile} and 28 inches long{90th percentile}! My sister started baking half cakes for her kids on their half birthdays, so we decided to get a cupcake and celebrate with half of a cupcake since we had been at the beach all weekend! He wasn't sure at first but loved daddy feeding him the icing. Hard to believer were half way to his FIRST birthday! Happy Half Birthday Buddy! We love you!  

Before we headed back home from the beach, Aunt Kat and I took Mak down to the beach to see if we could get any pictures of him and it was too bright but this was one of my favorites

Mak's Baptism

I remember sitting in mass after Alex and I got engaged picturing our wedding day and everyone there celebrating us. When we found out we were pregnant, I again found myself in mass picturing us in the church except this time baptizing our baby boy! We've attended three baptisms before this one but nothing is like standing up on the altar holding our son just as our parents had done with us when we were babies. It was such a special day for our little family and so blessed to have family and friends celebrate an important day in our son's life. After the ceremony we hosted family and friends at my parents house to celebrate our first born's baptism. Mak may not know the importance of that day now but I know one day he will and I can only hope that Alex and I can instill in him what our parents did for us, Your relationship with God is the most important relationship you will ever form.

Five Months

Baby boy is FIVE{5} Months old today!!! I can't believe that he is growing so fast and next month he will be half way through his first year! Alex and I talk about how fast he's growing up and that he is becoming a little toddler so quickly! Baby boy rolled over for the first time a couple days ago!! The next day, he rolled from his stomach to his back!! Everytime we put him down now, he's rolling! It was funny to see how excited Alex got when he rolled for him! He's got ANOTHER TOOTH!! He has both of his bottom teeth! We started him on some foods 2 weeks ago and so far he loves sweet potatoes, pears, and apples. The first food we tried was bananas and he wasn't a fan but I think it was bc he wasn't used to the texture yet because I tried the bananas again and he now likes them! We had his 4 month check up 2 weeks ago and he was 16 lbs{75 percentile} and 26.5 inches long{90 percentile}! He recently started lifting his head up if he's lying down and I think he'll be sitting up soon and definitely crawling soon! We also baptized Mak today and it was such a special day for us! A post of that to follow!

Four Months

Four months old!!! I think the months keep getting shorter and shorter and he just keeps getting older and older. He is such a sweet, happy and laid back baby! He's seriously a clone of his daddy! He looks identical to him and does everything he does. I think it amazes Alex more than anything that his son is so much like him! It gets old hearing EVERYONE{that's not exaggerating either, even complete strangers} tell us that Mak looks exactly like Alex but I am thankful that he does. He is still nursing when he's with me and bottles at daycare. He is now at 5 ounces at daycare and is still sleeping through the night! He was pretty much sleeping through the night at 2 weeks old and we've been very fortunate for that. He has his FIRST TOOTH!! I felt like a horrible mom when his teacher text me and said "you know Mak has a tooth right?" No!!!! I wanted to be the one to see it first but our little boy showed no signs of a tooth coming through and we think it popped through over night. He hasn't been fussy at all and we are so thankful! He isn't rolling yet but I know it'll be sooner than later! He's still a mamas boy and I love it!

Welcome to the World, Anderson!

Alex and I became an aunt and uncle{AGAIN!} to our handsome nephew, John "Anderson" Thompson IV, today! Kat's due date was March 24th and we all just knew that shed be delivering a week after her due date like both Amy and I did with our first! Last night, Kat text us all saying that she was having some bad back labor and her and John{they live in Camden} were headed to Moms and then headed to the hospital!!!! This was about 1030-11 pm! I was too excited that I couldn't even go to sleep in hopes of heading to the hospital to wait for my precious nephew to arrive! Sure enough, I didn't fall asleep and at 3 am, we got a text saying she was getting hooked up!! I woke Alex up and grabbed Mak and we all headed to the hospital to wait!! She had the complete opposite labor and delivery as I did, she labored hard and actually felt contractions where I don't even know what a hard contraction feels like but after 25-30 minutes{if that!} of pushing, at 11:05 am March 19, John and Kat became parents to their sweet Baby boy! He is so tiny weighing in at 6 lbs 15 oz! He looks just like his daddy and Mommy and baby are doing great! Mak was so excited his best friend has finally made it into this world! I can't wait to see how much trouble these two will get in and how many boys they beat up for messing with their cousin, Anna West! Having three baby's with only 5 months between the first and the third is going to be so much fun! AW, Mak and Anderson will be in the same class at the same school! How cool! We love you sweet Baby A!

Three Months

Three months old! What??!?! Time seems to be flying by the seconds these days and its hard to believe Mak is already 3 months old. I have{unfortunately} gone back to work and Baby Boy is adjusting to the life in Daycare. We haven't had any complaints yet but then again he has only been there for not even 2 weeks! He is still nursing when he is with me and 4 ounce bottles at daycare. Usually he eats every 3 hours because they try and keep the babies on a schedule at daycare but when he's with me he goes about 4 hours. This little{not so much} guy sleeps through the night still but will wake up for his paci and usually ends up in the bed with us. We had his 2 month well check up at 3 months and he was 14 lbs 10 ounces which puts him in the 75 percentile and 25.5 inches long which puts him in the 95 percentile!!!! He is such a happy baby and loves to laugh at his daddy!

Two Months

Two months old?? It seems like just yesterday we were headed to the hospital to welcome our sweet boy! At Two months old he is growing like a weed! He loves to sleep! He loves to eat! He is nursing every three-four hours and when he has a bottle{of breastmilk} he gets 4 ounces. He is smiling and Alex says he is definitely a mamas boy and I am okay with that!! Can't believe he is getting so big!

One Month Old

It's hard to believe that Baby Boy is already a month old! Didn't we just get bring him home from the hospital?? Alex and I are falling more in love with our sweet boy every day and thank god for blessing us with such a sweet baby. The first two weeks, he was sleeping between 6-7 hours at night but once we got home from my parents house, he was waking up every 3-4 hours with an occasional 7 hour stretch. I have learned that even a baby as young as 3-4 weeks old can be spoiled just by being held so much and as much as I wanted to just hold him ALL DAY, I was afraid that we were already spoiling him. Don't get me wrong, I still hold him a lot but I have learned to just put him down and let him go to sleep. He continues to nurse on average every 3 hours and at first I would set my alarm to wake him up to feed at night but stopped that and just fed him when he was hungry. He'll go 4 to 5 hours during the day sometimes but mostly every 3 hours. He had a doctor's appointment at 3 weeks which was his 2 week check up and he weighed 9lbs 8oz which is 6oz above his birth weight.  He gave me his first smile on Christmas Eve just shy of 4 weeks which daddy was sad that he missed:(! He has become way more alert in just a couple of weeks and we are loving watching him change each day! He is now in size 1 diapers and can wear very few newborn outfits but mostly 0-3 months only because of his length.   Mak, you continue to amaze us everyday and we are so blessed that we are your parents. We can't wait to watch you continue growing into a handsome little boy! Mommy and Daddy love you very much, sweet boy!

First Bath! {13 days old}

Baby Boy's belly button thing fell off last night so it was time for his first bath! We are still at Grandmama and Granddaddy's house{partly because Grandmama doesn't want us Mak to leave and partly because Granddaddy was suppose to go out of town} and everyone was gone for the night so Alex and I decided to give Mak his first bath...in the sink! Baby Boy did NOT like his bath at all...

Definitely didn't like it...

Trying to get him clean fast

'this is not fun mommy'...

poor guy didn't like it..maybe because of the small space

this was his face for maybe a second...

until we got him out of the water and into his towel but it didn't take long for Daddy to calm him down...

and he was all better!

All clean and happy to be in Daddy's arms!

Mak meets Grandmama Watson!

As the time got closer and closer for our son's arrival, I couldn't wait for everybody to meet him but there was one person that I was most excited about meeting him, my grandmother Grandmama Watson!  In the past few months, Grandmama's health had declined and she went from her house - to the hospital - to a rehab center - to the hospital - to a nursing home - to the hospital and finally back home with 24 hour care. She wasn't able to do anything on her own but her mind was all there which was the hardest part of it all. I kept praying to God that he would bring my son into this world before he took my grandmother because as much as she was hurting, I knew she wanted to meet him! When she made her last trip to the hospital before coming back home, she made an 180 degree turn FOR THE BETTER! Although she is still needing 24 hour care, and a wheelchair, she was sent home and spent Thanksgiving with her kids and grandkids! What a blessing it was to have her home with us for Thanksgiving! We were all SO THANKFUL to have her home with us! Mak was born and we came home from the hospital on Thursday and waited for Mom and Dad to get home so we could walk Baby Boy next door to finally meet this wonderful woman! There was nothing sweeter than seeing her face light up as we introduced her to our sweet little "Mitchell" and having her "Mitchell" there with her too!  It was a sweet first time meeting that we will cherish forever!

Me and Grandmama with "Our Mitchells"! Four Generations

Mak's Birth

I have always heard child birth is something you will never fully understand until you experience it for yourself and I can now officially say, I 100% agree! I'll take you back to November 19 when I had my second to last prenatal visit, 1 day before my due date, in hopes that they would say I was dilated more than 2 cm and that I would be induced on my due date. Unfortunately, Baby Boy was not ready to come, however we were able to schedule our induction for November 27th, if he had not made his appearance on his own before then. The days passed and we got through Thanksgiving, then we got through the Carolina-Clemson game{which the Gamecocks won!} and I was convinced after the nail-biter of a game we experienced, if I had not gone into labor from that, we weren't going to meet our little man until I was induced Tuesday morning. We had an appointment scheduled for Monday November 26th, for my last prenatal appointment, to see if I had progressed at all and again, in hopes that they would just send me to the hospital. Monday morning, I woke up with signs of labor at 5:45 am and freaking out, I frantically woke Alex up and told him but I ended up lying on the couch and waiting until our appointment at 10:45, which seemed like FOREVER! We headed to my appointment and was put on a monitor to track my contractions and they were 5-7 minutes apart. The doctor checked me and I was 3 cm dilated, however, Dr Ridenhour(the doctor on call) told me she wouldn't be surprised if she saw me later that day at the hospital. Frustrated at the news that we were so close yet so far, we left the doctor's office and came home. My poor husband came down with a cold/sinus issue THE DAY BEFORE we were about to welcome our son, so he took some meds and went to bed while Mom and I ran some errands to get things off my mind and hopefully put me into labor. The doctor told me to track my contractions and call if they got to every 5 minutes, so as were in the car, I experienced my first contraction and then another and another all within 5 minutes, some 4.5 minutes and some 3 minutes. We called my sister who has become the expert at having babies and she said to call the doctor and let them know. After a quick call back to the doctor, within maybe 2 hours of leaving the doctors office, we were headed back in! Having to wake Alex up, he met me and Mom at the doctor's office and the doctor checked me. Dr. Ridenhour said, "You're 5 cm, I think it's time to head to the hospital" and I wish I had a camera to capture Alex's eyes when he heard her say those words. HILARIOUS! I was wheeled over to the hospital at 5:19 pm and was admitted to the hospital to HAVE OUR BABY!!! After getting hooked up to the IV and talking with the nurse, she said that I was way too calm to already be 5 cm and not in much pain. I was debating on not getting the epidural because my contractions weren't that bad and I could tolerate the pain. I was more worried about feeling the epidural being injected into my back{not cool!} but after a while, I decided to get the epidural before it was too late, which later proved to be in my best interest! Every 2.5 hours, the nurse would come check me and unfortunately, I was only progressing 1 cm each time. My entire family got things together and headed to the hospital as soon as they heard I was going in and we had a room full of waiting and waiting! Some stayed in the room, and others went in the waiting room and slept as we got well into the night. After 12.5 hours of being in the hospital, it was finally time to start pushing! HOORAY! I was going in expecting to push for 30 minutes, maybe an hour. Our sweet little boy just couldn't make his way out and after THREE{3} LONG HOURS of pushing and help from a vacuum suction, at 9:24 am Mak made his entrance into this world! I can't even remember the last 2 hours of me pushing, and I had to receive some oxygen and Baby Boy's heart rate was dropping after every contraction I had. They immediately took him to get oxygen and drain some fluid he got after being stuck for so long and sent him to the NICU. All I remember was praying to God he would take care of our precious Baby Boy, as I watched my husband stare at all the nurses giving our son oxygen. We didn't hear him cry when he was born and it took a while before we heard the smallest of cries from him before Alex went with the nurses to the NICU. We were told he could be in the NICU for 6-8 hours or for the entire stay but they just didn't know. God was watching over us and our son, because at 12:00 Alex and I were allowed to go see Mak for the first time and hold him. The moment I held that sweet boy, it's like he knew exactly who I was and all was okay. We are thanking the Good Lord Above for watching over our little miracle, and at 1:30 just 4 hours after he was born, he was in our room with us and never left! Child birth is seriously an oxymoran, its the most painful thing I have ever gone through yet the most rewarding thing I have ever gone though. Right after Mak was born and I had pushed for 3 grueling hours, I looked at Alex and told him this might be our only child, but quickly changed my mind as soon as I held our sweet baby boy! All the pain in the world couldn't overtake the love I have for my son. My poor family waited and waited, slept and slept{in the hospital room and waiting room} all night and morning long, and we can't thank them enough! We were so fortunate to have them there with us even if they stayed there for 16 hours! We had a great hospital stay and left the hospital on Thursday November 29! Below are some pictures taken from his birth and throughout our hospital stay! {WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD!}

 

 

4 hours old!

 

 

 

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