Tuesday, February 25, 2014

4 months

 Oh my sweet Bennett boy.
Shortly after Bennett's 3 month mark he got sick so we took him into our pediatrician's office and met with a different doctor.  It turned out to be just a cold, but a tender mercy of being informed of his flat head was discussed.  The doctor educated us on how to stretch and position Bennett to eliminate pressure on his right side.  His 6 month appointment would tell us if we would need a helmet to correct his irregular head shape.

So off we went to our 4 month well check up.  Things with Bennett were looking great.
He's grown into quite the chunky monkey with a long torso and legs to match his massive feet.  Bennett is 17 lbs 2 oz and 27 inches putting him in the 89% for weight and 98% for height, but only 49% for head circumference  My boy is gonna be a ball player thats for sure!
Our doctor recommended Bennett go to physical therapy to further determine if a helmet is the best option for his progression so we will be scheduling that appointment soon.

Overall Bennett has developed quite the cute personality.  He love talking... and talking LOUD.  If you start to babble back at him he babbles even louder.
He has developed a love for blowing bubbles and drooling EVERYWHERE. He saturates multiple bibs a day with his out of control drooling and sucking on his hands.
He doesn't love any binkie and will only keep it in his mouth if you hold it there.
Clothes wise he is tightly fitting into his 6 month clothes and has even transitioned into 9 month jammies.  We are in the process now of switching him to size 3 diapers.
Bennett is still a pretty decent sleeper lasting from 9:30pm-6:30am on most days straight.  Sometimes with a quick feed at 3am or 5am.  His naps typically consist of several 30-45 minute cat naps and one large 2- 2 1/2 hour nap that either takes place in the morning or late afternoon.
The boy dominates formula.  He eats anywhere from 4-7 oz every 3 or so hours.





 
On another note. Basketball season is coming to a close today.  We have enjoyed the last few months being a Spartan.  Sadly we didn't make it into the state tournament, but that won't stop our little basketball family from attending all the state playoff games with kettle corn in hand. :)





Thursday, February 6, 2014

True Love

There's this one guy in my life who has truly stolen my heart and that fella is the one and only Lance Aaron.
Yes. I do love my baby boy Bennett too, but without Lance there would be no Bennett so this is my shoutout to the world's most amazing husband.
The few weeks after Bennett was born Lance was putting in 10-12 hour days at the duplex trying to get it ready for our new renter.  It was a chaotic time for us and I was grateful for his hard work in making the deadline for our new renters. 
At that same time I kept wishing and hoping that Lance would fall in love with Bennett as much as I had.
The 11 weeks I took off for maternity leave it was pretty much me and Bennett battling it out each day and making our daily runs to "my stores" as Lance would call them just to keep me from going stir crazy.  
I was nervous to go back to work because in my mind who was going to clean/cook/take care of Bennett/ and keep the generalized flow of our lives.....



Lance.
Over the last month of me working full-time and Lance taking daddy duty x3 a week I have witnessed his love for Bennett grow exponentially.  
I am overjoyed to see Lance babbling back at Bennett and playing with him.  Many times if Bennett starts to cry Lance says, "here I'll take him," a common phrase said by many wives to their husbands... but this willingness from Lance only makes him the worlds most perfect husband and father. 
In addition Lance has blessed me with many more things... 
The nights before my days of work Lance gets up with Bennett to feed him if he wakes in the night.
The days I get home from work I am greeted with my boys smiling on the couch playing.
My bed is made.
My puppies are fed.
My laundry is done.
My dishes and bottles have been washed.
Dinner is most likely in the oven (if I've prepped and given instructions).
I am then able to take my boy and spend tub time and jammy time with him prior to bed.
The next morning if I am off Lance will even wake up early with Bennett so I can sleep in for one more hour before beginning my day.
These are the many small and yet amazing things my husband does making those 4 days off each week days where I can feel refreshed, get some studying done and spend uninterrupted time with my ever so growing little man.  
I. Am. Truly. Blessed.


Baby Boy Organization

Maybe it's because I am a new mom or maybe it's because I'm a type-A organization freak, but baby clothes just about throws me over the edge.
What I mean by that is I have spent countless trips and time going back and forth to baby clothing stores returning/exchanging and purchasing clothes that I think Bennett will fit into... only to go home and realize I  #1 already have something similar in that size, or #2 it's going to be the wrong season.

Needless to say I am about OVER the frustrations of having 10 of Bennett's 6 month shirts stripes and 4 pairs of jeans and khakis that he isn't quite comfortable in... and will be too small by the time he should be able to wear them.

This morning I devised a plan to help ease the frustrations and hopefully eliminate my back and forth trips to carters and old navy!   CLOTHING DIVIDERS.

These dividers are more practical than the traditional ones that simply state the size of clothing by month because lets face it, every store has different sizes and the true test is grouping them by height and weight and not by month.
So here they are.  My sanity.
I listed the sizes to the 3-4 stores that I shop at on each corresponding month as well as the categories of clothing.
I then went through Bennett's closet and made a tally under each category and now its SO much easier to see that I have zero pants 18-24 months or only short sleeves for 6-12 months.
In addition, at the top I put a date and age line so I can get a generalized idea for how long Bennett was in each size in hopes my other children will follow suit.