15 Months Old

And we are walking!! Will has finally started walking more consistently. In fact when we are downstairs in the playroom he mostly will walk all over the entire room. And if he loses his balance and falls he gets back up and continues instead of just crawling to where he's trying to go. I would say he is at about 80/20 with walking and crawling. Whatever gets him there faster!! He also has 3 new teeth! He can now say "hi" and wave. He can also say "eye" and point to your eye. He says "bite" if he wants what you are eating. I will ask him questions like "do you want a snack?", "are you all done?", etc and he will respond with hand gestures and excitement to let you know yes, that's what he wants. He is still eating the same and sleeping the same. He is also wearing the same size clothes (18-24 months) and diapers (4). He has shown us he can dance too. Although he doesn't move his legs too much while he does it he mostly moves his arms. I also packed up all the bottles, sippy cups, bottle sanitizer and warmer. He finally gave up the bottle right before he turned 14 months. It made me a little sad cause he is not a baby anymore but I am glad to be done with that.

He saw Santa this year and surprisingly did not cry. He did give the lip and kept looking at Santa like "what is going on??" but he did pretty good considering. I also took a couple of Christmas pics this year of him, much easier this year than last!

On a side note, Chris and I have decided that we are ready for baby #2 and are hoping to become pregnant in 2014. Hopefully we will have no troubles and if we are fortunate enough to become pregnant again I will be quitting my job and staying home with the kids in addition to my growing photography business. And if God decides that we are only supposed to be parents to just Will we are also happy with that decision and I still hope to be done with work by the end of 2014 if not sooner. Wish us luck and of course I will be blogging all about it!

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!



 

 

 

Christmas Photo Session

When Will was just about 3 months old I thought it would be so cute to do a Christmas tree lot photo session. So I called up my friend at Sophia Brown Photography and we set it up. Of course they came out so adorable and I have decided that it needs to be done every year in December until Will says "Mom, no more Christmas tree lot!". This year was so cute and so fun. We did a different lot but the results were just as cute if not cuter. Here are a few of the sneak peeks she emailed me.

14 Months Old

We have a jealous little boy on our hands! This kid needs all the attention and if he is not getting it you will start to hear a little whine. He got so angry at me the other day for holding my niece Kennedy. He also gets really upset if I'm giving one of the dogs attention instead of him. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to another baby...whenever we have one.

Halloween was exactly what I expected it to be. Will napped later in the afternoon so he was well rested for the outing. Once we finally got over to the area we were trick-or-treating in he lasted about 30 min before he ripped off his dinosaur head and was done.

Not much new to report this month. He is getting better and better at walking and very very soon he will be off! Part of me can't wait till that happens and the other part of me knows exactly what the reality of it will be. He is starting to mimic the sounds of sentences or phrases when Chris and I are talking. The other day Will and I were heading out to Target and I said to the dogs, "Be right back boys!" and Will says "BAT BAT BOY!". He also says "Ber" for Bert and "Baa" for Baxter. Its pretty cute to hear him trying to talk all the time. He also says "bye-bye" and waves, can say mom, dad, and can do patty-cake as well. You can tell he wants to talk so bad! He has always been a talker and will speak his own baby language all the time, but now you start to hear words. Chris and I just laugh cause it's so cute.

This year we are having Thanksgiving at our house. It should be fun and we are excited to be the host. I am working on ideas for Christmas photos for Will this year. Some super cute stuff coming your way! Also can't wait to see the pouty lip face he's going to give right before he busts out crying with Santa this year. it's gonna be classic :)

 

 

Halloween 2013



1 Year photo session

Here are a few pictures from Will's 1 year session with Sofia Brown Photography. She always does such a great job capturing my boy :)

 



13 Months Old

I just can't bring myself to give up the monthly posts and pictures of this growing child of mine. I enjoy looking back on this last year and seeing the changes in him through these photos. Having said that I have decided to continue doing this for at least another year...maybe longer. It must be the photographer in me :)

13 months. Wow. Still can't get over it. Not much has changed in the last month. From what my pediatrician says their weight and height does not change much in their 2nd year. He is still wearing the same clothing and diaper size. He was not a fan of long sleeve shirts or long sleeve pajamas but has since come around to the idea. It is starting to get a bit cooler here in AZ so it's nice that his is starting to like wearing those things. Plus that is pretty much all they sell for kids his age at the clothing stores. I was a little scared that he wasn't going to want to wear all the cute fall/winter clothing in his closet! We have started to put shoes on him as well. He wore them for his 1 year photo session and didn't mind them so much but has since changed his mind. Every time he is wearing them he tries to pull them off and throw them to the ground. He is also starting to "Frankenstein" walk. He takes the unbalanced, shaky steps toward me or Chris and sometimes even the dogs. He is getting better at it each day but still not to the point where it is more than 5-6 steps before falling. He will get there. We don't rush him and we let him do things at his own pace. He also started clapping. He doesn't do it on command or when you are "suppose to" (saying yay, etc) but more on when he feels like it. He very much enjoys the company of the dogs and gets very VERY excited when he sees them or plays with them.

His sleep schedule is still the same, 1-2 naps during the day and 12hrs straight at night. His eating has become more of a 3 big meal 2 snacks sort of routine. He still only drinks milk at night before bed and nothing but water all day long. The Doctor says its ok that he isn't a big milk drinker, he gets his dairy in cheese and yogurt.

We are excited for his first real Halloween in a few more days. We plan to take him trick-or-treating with his cousins, Leighan and Kennedy. I'm sure it won't last long but should still be fun.

I have decided to change up this years monthly photos with a different vintage chair and a chalkboard. His photos his first year where on fabric pieces with monthly stickers on his onesie as well as a monthly chair picture of him in a vintage yellow chair and mustache pillow. He was much more interested in the pumpkin, laughing and playing with it. Of course once I finally get him to look at me and sit still he gives me the serious "board meeting" face. Ahh...my child. I love him :)

 



Happy 1st Birthday William!!

Will's first birthday has come and gone. All the weeks of prep work and stress the night before was gone once the party started. It was such a great birthday weekend for him, I couldn't have asked for it to go any better. His grandparents from ND came for the weekend and brought one of his great grandmother's with for the celebration. We spent his actual birthday hangout at home with both of his grandparents and great grandmother. We had a nice big dinner and he finished his day off with a cup cake. After he went to bed the party prep start. I had decorated the entire house for the party that night. I knew there was so much to do the next morning before the party, I had to get as much as I could done the night before.

The next morning he woke up on time, 6am, and we were off to a great start! Since we did most of the baking the day before all that was left to do was put food out. and clean up the back yard. We ended up having about 40-50 people here for the celebration. I know it sounds like a lot but it turned out to be just right. He didn't cry or get overwhelmed by everyone. When it came time to sing happy birthday and eat his cake he just stared at everyone. He didn't eat his cake because everyone was watching him, but the second I took him back inside and he was not the center of attention, he went to town on it! Shortly after he finished his cake he was ready for a nap. And with that came the end of the party. He slept for about 2 hours after that and when he work up he was ready to play with all of his new toys!

We had a great first birthday and of course, I am already thinking of what the theme will be for birthday number 2 :)

 



12 Months Old

One whole year has passed by in a flash. I can't believe my little baby boy is now 1 AND a toddler! We have come a long way from our sleepless nights that's for sure! This has been the best year of my life...so far. I have enjoyed everything about being a mother both good and not so good. I wouldn't trade any of it for anything and would do it all again in a heart beat. I love Will so much words can't even begin to describe what it is all about. I have enjoyed watching him grow and turn in to the little boy he is becoming.

He has accomplished a lot since his last posting. He can know wave bye, shake his head no, started saying mom, can crawl up stairs, can stand on his own and can make motor boat noises with his mouth. He points, laughs when things are funny, and smiles the best smile I have ever seen.  He is just learning new things everyday it seems! Although he isn't walking just yet, you can tell that he wants to. He moves from coffee table to couch easily, but I think he is still not quite brave enough.

He is fully wearing 18-24 month clothes. It was a little bitter sweet packing up his 12 month clothes because he had been wearing them the longest and because he just turned 1. I felt like I packed up the rest of the "baby stuff" when I packed that up. He is also fully eating regular table food. No baby food at all. His favorite foods are anything pasta, toast, peas, fruit of all kinds and waffles. He only takes 1 bottle at night with half formula and half whole milk. I've been trying to slowly transition him from a bottle to a sippy cup at night but so far it has been a bust. It's weird because he drinks from a sippy cup and a straw all day long. I think it's mostly a familiar, comforting way for him to ease into bed at night. He still sleeps 12 hours straight at night and has now gone from 2 naps down to 1. Although he only takes 1 nap it's still a decent size nap at around 2 hours on average. Sometimes even 3 hours! He loves being independent when he does everything. Eating, playing, and bathing. Mr. Independent! He loves playing in every part of this house. He can entertain himself very well which is nice when I am trying to get things ready for his bedtime. I am with this kid all the time during any free moment I have and I just love all of the playing and the time we spend together. He makes me laugh so hard when he plays! For instance he has noticed his penis in the bath and he just cracks up. He will look down at it, touch it and then look up at me and start laughing. Then he just goes about playing. He is weighing in at just under 23lbs and is 32 inches long. He has gone from a super chubby baby in the 95th percentile to a not as chubby baby in the 72nd percentile.

I am excited to see what this next year will bring us. I am sure we will have a crawler before you know it and he will be getting into more than he is now! But I can't wait for all the new things he will experience and learn.

 



11 Months Old

And so the count down to turning 1 begins. I swear I get teary eyed  every time I think about his upcoming birthday party. I am such a baby when it comes to my little baby growing up!

Once again we had a lot of new things happen this month with our little man. He got another tooth in, which makes the total count at 6. I hope for his sake, and for ours, that we get a little break before more teeth decide to make their way in. He was teething forever it seemed and I just felt so bad for him! Since going on our trip Will started to taste lots of new food and no longer wants his mom or dad to feed him. Mr. Independent is just that...independent. He wants to feed himself and since starting to do so he eats so good and so much food! He is pretty much all table food now and drinks mostly water all day. He will still take a 6-8 oz bottle at night before bed but that's pretty much it. I guess that's good considering he needs to be bottle free by 1 year old. While we were on our trip he also took his first fall off the bed. We were at a hotel so it wasn't a far fall. And the carpeting was pretty soft, however that did not stop him from crying for about 15-20 minutes before falling asleep. Of course I was a totally wreck as well. I had tried so hard to not let that happen and when it did I totally beat myself up over it. The next morning when he woke up he was good as new and not a mark or bump on him from it.

After we got home from our trip we moved into our new house. It took Will a little bit longer to get back into his schedule from traveling and then also adjusting to the new house and his new room. After a few weeks he was back to normal and loving all of the space for him to cruise around in and play. He has become a little speed racer crawling around this house! He loves playing and chasing Baxter around as well. They have become good buddies since moving into the new house. Lots of room to play equals endless days of chasing a dog around the house. The best part is the little giggles Will does while doing it. He is also on the verge of standing on his own. He can pull himself up to his knees and sometimes even his feet. Walking is right around the corner!  He also got his first stomach bug...or perhaps over eating. We aren't sure. But one night while Chris was putting Will to bed Will projectile vomited all over his bedroom door, wall and carpet. It took us a good week to get the smell out. I wasn't home at then time but it was still a little nerve racking trying to figure out if your kid is really sick or just some random vomit session. Anyways he seemed back to his normal self by the following day.

I have been planning for months for his birthday party and soon it will be here! I am just getting all of the final touches together before the big day. All of the décor is done and we are just finalizing all of the food. My in-laws will be here for the weekend to help out and enjoy the party. I still can't believe he is going to be a year old in a month...time sure flies!



First Trip on a Plane

Our first family vacation was a success!! With our flights being delayed both there and back, coming back at 1030 at night and all the schedule changes and meeting of new people, William did just great! We found out that he loves turbulence. While I was freaking out and trying not to be sick Will was laughing and smiling at the "ride". Will has visited with Chris parents when he was about 3 weeks old, and he Skypes with them on a regular basis as well, so it was nice to see him take to them well. He was about to meet a lot of Chris extended family as well. It was a bit overwhelming for Will but he adapted well.  Our trip was very laid back as we were by a lake the entire time. Will "drove" his first boat, met his new BFF's Dalilah and John, ate Zorbaz for the first time and loved it and did many other things while visiting MN. Of course being a photographer we did tons of mini photo sessions. With tall grass and vintage cars, buildings and signs all over the place I could not resist! All in all we had a great time visiting, however I am in no hurry to go on another trip with him any time soon. It is sooo much work! I need a vacation from my vacation!

 

driving the boat with uncle Tim

visiting with great grandma Helen

generation photo: Bill, Chris and William

Me and my baby boy by Loon Lake

hangin' at Zorbaz



10 Months Old

Only 2 months left of baby life. It is so sad how fast time flies with this boy. This month was filled with lots of new things and I just love watching him grow and learn.

We officially have a crawler! He started with the "military crawl" and after leaving him with my parents for a weekend and going though "Nana boot camp" he came out a crawler. He is also learning to stand. With just a little bit of help he can stand up and hold on to a chair or his crib. With this new found movement and freedom he has also out grown his baby toys and has moved on to toys with toddler appeal. We loves blocks and wooden puzzles. He has always loved music so of course any toys that make music sounds he also just loves playing with. He only takes a bottle at night before bed and now uses a sippy cup the rest of the time. He also has become a huge water drinker just like his parents. He probably drinks about 8-16 oz of water a day. He is also starting to move out of the baby food stage and into the table food stage. He also has really been enjoying a few Gerber snacks. Along with the new eating habits he has FINALLY broke through with 3 more teeth. He has had a rough time teething over the last 2 months or so and 3 of the 4 top teeth finally came through.

We will be taking our first family vacation to MN in a few days. This will be William's first plane ride. I am a little scared and nervous for how it will go. We have packed lots of toys, movies and other distractions to help us out for the traveling. Wish us luck!

 



9 Months Old

Only 3 more months left of having a baby. I am so sad that the time goes by so fast. I can't stand it! In 3 months he will be ONE and a TODDLER! Will has been doing so many new things since last month, his independence is really starting to come through! It started with him finally holding his bottle on his own. He grabs it right from you as if he's saying "I want to do it!" and holds it to feed himself. He also started to sit up on his own. The first time he did it I had just put him down for his nap in his crib. I came downstairs with the monitor and I looked at him, he was laying down getting ready to go to sleep. I checked again in about 10 minutes and he was sitting straight up! The first thing I thought was "who's in his room!!??". I went upstairs so fast and opened the door and he was just sitting in his crib smiling at me. I laid him back down and went downstairs again. This time I just watched the monitor and there it was. He sat up all on his own. What a big boy! Of course now this means that crawling is just around the corner! Time to baby proof! He almost fell off the bed once as well. I had just changed his diaper and had walked about 4 steps away to wash my hands and I was watching him slowly sit up and turn himself to face me and there he went...over the edge. I ran and caught him about half way down. Scared the crap outta me!

He still is wearing clothing anywhere between 12-24 months, size 4 diapers and he just started to not mind wearing hats. He has lost 1 of his 3 naps he was taking during the day. He still sleeps about 10-12 hours at night, straight through and then takes about 2 2 hour naps during the day. As far as food goes I have officially stopped breast feeding. He stopped breast feeding a few months back but I was still pumping and giving him breast milk in bottles. I have just recently, in the past couple of weeks, have gone from pumping about 14-16 ounces daily to about 1 ounce a day. Its a nice freedom for me but I feel bad that I couldn't make it the full year for him. I did the best I could and I just keep saying only 3 months on straight formula and then he can have whole milk. I really didn't want to give him formula at all but I was lucky enough to give him breast milk for almost 9 months. He is also exploring more with table food. He has had some chicken and beef as well as some pasta and watermelon. He still mostly eats homemade baby food and oatmeal but every once in a while he gets something that we eat as a little treat. He loves homemade lemonade, which  is funny to me. I was obsessed with lemons and lemonade when I was pregnant with him. He still only has his 2 bottom teeth, but he has been teething for about 2 months off and on, so I am hoping he gets them soon! Teething the 2nd time around has been much harder for him. He has had a couple of days with a fever but mostly he just doesn't feel good and only wants mommy.

Next month we are going up to MN to spend about 5 days with Chris family. It will be interesting to see how he behaves on the plane. It will be nice for him to visit with the family he doesn't get to see that often. I am excited to take photos of those interactions. We also just bought a house and will be closing on it in less than a month. It's all very exciting but very stressful to be traveling so much in July and then moving on top of that. But I will say that I cannot wait to move and decorate our new home.



8 Months Old

8 months old. 8 months! I just cannot believe how fast the time goes. Not much has changed from 7 months. He still is wearing 12-18 month clothes but can wear up to 24 months. He is still eating 3 meals a day and has 1 large bottle both in the morning and before he goes to bed. We started supplementing with formula maybe about 3 weeks ago. He gets 12 oz of breast milk a day and 12 oz of formula.  He is still wearing size 4 diapers and still sleeping through the night, going to bed between 6-8pm and waking between 5:30-7am. He is starting to lose 1 of his 3 naps he takes during the day but it does not seem to be affecting his mood or schedule what so ever. He is starting to eat a few more new foods. Chris still makes all of his baby food which has been fruits and vegetables. He has started to eat meat and some cheese but mostly it has been tastes from our own plates. He still enjoys snacks like Cheerios and Mums but has been trying graham crackers as well. Summer has officially started in Arizona so we have been spending lots of our weekends in the pool. Will just loves floating around in his little boat! He just loves the water! He still is sitting just fine on his own and of course rolling around like crazy. He can move himself in a circle either on his belly or sitting to turn and look at whatever catches his attention. We are working on standing but that only happens when he is in the mood. There have been signs of potential crawling in his near future. I guess we will see!  He laughs more and more each day and talks like crazy! He still just has the 2 front bottom teeth but with all the teething he has been going through the last month I wouldn't be surprised if more teeth ended up coming in soon. Will also had his first over night at his Nana and Opa's house. He did just fine...unlike his mother! I cried for like 5 minutes when I left him and kept getting teary eyed thinking about him the rest of the night. It was a practice run for our little adult trip to Vegas next month. I am sure I will cry even more when that happens! He is also out of his baby car seat and into a big boy car seat...already! He is so big that the doctor actually told us to move him to a bigger car seat a month ago. Of course I have been taking pictures of him like crazy...I wouldn't have it any other way! I have also been planning his birthday party as well since September will be here before you know it! We are also in the starting process of buying a home. We just got pre approved and have only barely begun to look at homes but we plan to be somewhere new in time for his 1st birthday. These next 4 months are going to fly by and my baby will no longer be a baby but a toddler! I never thought it would go by so fast, but I love watching him grow into a sweet little boy.

 



 



Our First Roadtrip

Our first road trip was an adventure alright! Chris, Will and I packed up the car and drove up north to Pinetop for a weekend getaway with our close friends The Reynolds. They have a beautiful cabin in Pinetop that we stayed at. The drive up was interesting. I sat in the back with Will and he only slept for about 1 hour of the entire ride up, which is about 3-4 hours. We stopped about half way and took a much needed break to stretch, get out of the car and eat a little something. Once we finally got to our destination Will was just fine. He slept in his own pack and play that we had brought with and slept just as good as he does at home. He enjoyed seeing all of the big tall trees and playing in the grass on the golf course. The weather was just perfect and although he was teething he was very well behaved and we all enjoyed our first getaway. Of course no trip would be complete without photos! Our drive back was a little bit better. I ended up sitting in the front and he was much less distracted and ended up sleeping half of the way. He enjoyed spending time with his Godmother Nicole and we all look forward to another visit to Pinetop!

 



7 Months Old

Will is 7 months old...7! I wish I could just freeze time and keep him like this forever. Ugh! So Will is 7 months old and currently looks like a toddler. He is weighing in at 21 lbs and 28 inches long. He is in the 85th percentile for all of his measurements. He is exactly where he is supposed to be as far as his milestones. He has been rolling around like crazy! You cannot take you eyes off of him for one second. He is also sitting on his own as well. He has been eating 3 meals daily of baby food, both vegetable and fruit, as well as oatmeal or rice cereal. He also gets about 20-24 ounces of breast milk daily. He has been snacking on Mum crackers a couple of days a week as well but mostly just on the weekends. He still takes 3 naps a day and the time ranges from 1-2 hours each nap. He sleeps through the night still in his crib and goes to bed between 630-730pm and gets up between 5-6am. I usually get up for work around the same time. I will say that it has been a DREAM to get all this sleep I have been missing back! Wonderful!!! And its all from the Healthy Sleep habits Happy Baby book that was recommended to me. Best purchase for mommy to date! He is currently wearing 12 month clothes but can fit into 18-24 month clothes...as I found out recently when trying to find something for an industrial photo session with him (the shirt he wore was 24 months and fit him just fine). He is also in size 4 diapers and according to his pediatrician he has outgrown his baby car seat and is ready for the next one. He laughs so much and talks up a storm! He is a very happy baby and I am telling you if we are this lucky the second time around (no I am NOT pregnant) I will thank GOD everyday for being the luckiest mom ever. He has also had his first try in the baby pool. He cried at first but LOVES splashing around in the water. He enjoys going to his Nana and Opa's every Sunday to visit and play. He has his 2 bottom teeth in and his top right tooth has barely started to come through. We also had our first late night visit to the doctor. We took him into Goodnight Pediatrics at midnight on a Thursday night because he had a really bad cough and it almost sounded like a bark at one point. The doctor said his lungs were clear and that all he had was some congestion sitting at the top of his lungs. His ears showed some fluid in them but no infection. Chris spent the next week adjusting him 2-3 times per day and the fluid was gone. Overall Will is a very healthy and happy baby and Chris and I could not have asked for more. This weekend we are going on our first road trip with him up to Pinetop to stay with some of our friends (his godmother) at their cabin. It should be interesting! Pics to come...as always!



First Easter

Will's first Easter was a typical Sunday hanging out at my mom's house. We enjoyed spending time with his cousins Leighan and Kennedy and also getting lots of goodies from the Easter Bunny in his Easter basket. Because he was teething we actually missed church...for the first time EVER. I couldn't believe it. Anyways we spent another wonderful Sunday with family...tradition.

 

 



6 Month photo session

Will's 6 month photo session was fun as usual. He isn't quite sitting up on his own yet so we had to improvise a bit. I love to see him grow in these photos!

 



First St. Patty's Day

Will's first St. Patty's Day was spent with my family hanging out by the pool. He put on his pool side hat and played in a baby chair outside in the shade before going in for a nap. He LOVES to be outside! We enjoyed a nice family day, the first of many more Sunday pool days.



6 Months Old

William is a half a year old. I feel like he was just this tiny little baby boy and now he's wearing 12-18 month clothes. 12-18 month clothes!!! My little baby boy has turned into a 6 month toddler...over night! I can't believe how much I love this baby. Every day I look at him I love him more than the day before. He is my entire world and I can't ever imagine my life without him.

Will started eating cereal shortly after he turned 5 months old. We were off to a rough start with it, but he adjusted well and is now eating double the start amount. He is also sleeping in his own crib at night. He sleeps the entire night in his crib and sometimes wakes up once throughout the night just to eat. He is also rolling completely over from his back to his belly. He does it all of the time and at first I was going in his room at night and rolling him back but after about a week or so of that I just left him alone and checked on him a few times during the night and of course he has been fine. He has also gotten his first tooth...and about a week after that got his second tooth. My poor little guy, teething does not go well with him. I'm pretty sure I gave him Motrin twice a day every day for about a week at least. I felt so had for him! All he wanted was his mommy and to snuggle every single day starting at about 5pm until he would finally go to sleep. Poor thing! He also went to the park for the first time. He just LOVES the swings! Super cute to see him enjoying it. He also started watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He gets the biggest smile every time it comes on...sooo cute! He now weighs about 20 lbs and his height is 29 inches.

This month has been a lot of new things, that's for sure! Along with all his new milestones he has reach he also started with a new daycare lady. She is younger than our previous sitter and much closer to home, which I love. I get to sleep an extra 1/2 hour in the mornings and it takes me much less time to get home after work.

Our goal for next month is to have him sitting up on his own. He is almost there. He can currently sit with something behind his back, such as his boppy pillow. And he can also sit up really good in his bumpo chair as well. He will also experience his first Easter, which will be interesting since we always go to a sunrise church service. He did great at the Christmas church service so I'm not too worried about his behavior. He is also had his picture taken with the Easter Bunny this past weekend. Classic of course!

I also had my good friend Chelsea take his 6 month photos this last weekend. I cannot wait to see how they turned out! She always does such a great job with all of his photos.