7 Months

Unlike month 6, Crew's 7th month has been rather uneventful. It's been adjusting to me staying home and getting in a routine. We made a trip up to Kentucky to celebrate Elle's birthday and had a couple friends from Michigan visit. Crew went on his first hike and he did a great job besides the fact that we forgot a bottle and he became hungry. So I nursed him in the middle of Abram's Falls trail without a cover...yea I felt super crunchy at that moment...I wont be forgetting a bottle and/or nursing cover any time soon. We also road around Cade's Cove in its entirety, all 11 miles on our bikes. We pulled him in a bike trailer and he did awesome, except Trev pulled him through a puddle without the rain fly on, Crew did not like that so much oh well you learn from your mistakes.

Crew updates

-I was wrong in my last post, Crew still is not crawling. He does a scoot or worm like movement to get from point A to point B. He can get where he pleases but not by crawling. 

-He can go from laying down to sitting up proficiently. I read that this is supposed to come after crawling so maybe Crew just wants to skip crawling in general we will see. 

-He's starting to play shy and when people come up while I'm holding him he puts his head in my chest/shoulder. 

-He has identified the softy between his mama and daddy. He will be playing downstairs with Trev and when I come downstairs he will start whimpering and raise his arms to be held. I honestly can't say that I hate the fact that he wants me to hold him. 

-I let him watch a kid's show for the first time on TV! We don't have cable and I was not feeling well one day in FL and everyone else was at the beach. So I turned on Sesame Street and he loved it, sat there for 20 minutes and actually WATCHED the tv. 

-He likes to be read to and helps me turn the page, then tries to eat the page. 

-Currently he is on a babyfood boycott!! He refuses to eat it, just purses those lips together and looks at me like I'm crazy for thinking he's actually going to eat. He gags at even the smell of bananas, kind of likes avocados, sweet potatoes, peas, and carrots but much prefers just to nurse. He has had some giant throw ups after eating baby food and our pediatrician says he remembers the throw ups and that is why he does not want to eat....sigh. Oh well, he can't nurse forever so I'm not stressing about it yet. 

-Crew Bear loves the pool, it's a nightly ritual. We just walk down the hill in our backyard and plop him in the baby pool. He can touch the bottom of the pool with his float on and walks around the baby pool as proud as a little peacock, he likes the glimmer of independence.

Our monthly chair photo shoots are getting a little more interesting as you will see below. He fell off twice just rolled straight forward and nose dived, don't worry I caught him both times. These 7 month pictures crack me up, they so very much depict his personality. He make look just like me as a baby but he is all Trev when it comes to personality!

6 month update!

I know Crew's 6 month update is WAY overdue but due to the fact that when I turned in my computer for work it left me computerless....gasp...and Trev just purchased me a new one last week so I had nothing to blog on so now I'm playing catch up.

Well Crew's 6th month of life has been rather eventful! I had to go back to work for about five weeks and my mom who is incredible took off about a month of work and moved down to TN to take care of him. She was super amazing and Crew was super spoiled by his Oma. Now I am officially at home full time, kind of a bittersweet. More sweet than bitter I must say. I've taught for five years and I honestly say the thing I will miss the most is the adult interaction but sacrificing that to stay at home with Crew man is so worth it to me.

We had Crew's 6 month appointment. He weights 20 lbs 5 oz (87th percentile) and is 28.5 inches long (97th percentile). He loves to sit up and play with his toys. He is about ready to take off crawling. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. I think we are going to a crawler any day now.

He had his first solid food, on Mother's Day. He ate avocado and seemed to enjoy it. A week later he ate some sweet potatoes and bananas. He does not like bananas very much he gagged the entire time while eating them so right now we are sticking to avocados and sweet potatoes.

4 and 5 month pictures

So it looks like I've turned into a once every two monthish blogger. I tell ya what, staying home with a little one keeps me busy!

We had Crew's four month appointment last month. Boy has he grown! He weighed 17 lbs 10 oz  which puts him in 93rd percentile. For length he was 26 1/4 in long which put him in the 90% percentile.

 

His fifth month of life has been very eventful. We had our first "sick trip" to the doctor. Poor little one had a 102 fever among other things the doctor said just a virus so no meds were needed. His bottom two teeth broke through and he is now sitting unassisted. WAHOO

 



Crew's Dedication

In February we dedicated Crew at church. Our church is rather large so instead of dedicating him in “big church” we made the important commitment to raise him in the way of the Lord in front of our community group aka Sunday school class. Our community group consists of about 80 people so it’s kind of like a mini church. We are so blessed by the people in our community group. Several moms have come beside me during this new chapter in my life and have really been a huge support to me, letting me know that I’m not crazy, and yes motherhood is really hard and it’s okay to admit. Trev has a godly group of men who he enjoys doing manly things with like racquetball and basketball with when he finds the time aside from working 80 hours a week! It’s been a hard winter with the adjustments of his demanding work schedule and having a new baby and I honestly would say without my parents help and support from my friends I couldn’t’ have survived. We were so honored that we could dedicate him in front of family and friends that we dearly love.  

On Crew's cake is a special prayer that Trev and I picked out for Crew,

Proverbs 3:1-12

3 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
² for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you peace and prosperity.

³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.^[a]

⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
⁸ This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.

⁹ Honor the Lord with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
¹⁰ then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.

¹¹ My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke,
¹² because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

March My Favorite Month

You may be surprised to know that March is my favorite month. Nothing really exciting happens in the month of March besides St. Patrick’s day…which I think is a boring holiday in the first place.  However March for me reminds me of new beginnings. These are the reasons why I love March.

1.       March 17^th (St. Patrick’s Day) 2010- was the day we found out I was sick. I remember I had a green sweater with squares on at the elementary school where I taught. I woke up that morning looked into the mirror and the whites of my eyes looked like mustard. I went to school anyway however I mentioned it to the school nurse (who by the way was a huge blessing when I was so sick and still teaching). She told me to go straight to the doctor and I believe that I ended up in the hospital that night. Trev has it all documented, actually he wrote a book about it. It’s a small book written with hope that it can encourage others. You can buy it here or if you want one we can give you one we have lots of copies: http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/trevor-christie/a-journey-worth-taking/paperback/product-20540399.html 

2.       March 2011- God healed me in February 2011 and in March 2011 we made one of the best decisions which was moving to Tennessee. Neither of us had ever been to East Tennessee. We literally just looked at a map. I knew I wanted to be within three hours of my parents and he wanted to be close to outdoor recreation. We came out one weekend and bought a house. We feel very blessed with the house, church, and friends that the Lord has given us. DC never felt like home I would always refer to "going home" as in back to my parents house even though we lived there for over four years. However, TN quickly became our home and it's honestly a place I never want to leave. On a clear morning when I wake up and look out of our bay windows in our master bath I can see the glorious Smokey Mountains and beautiful Lake Loudon and my heart gets full.

3.       March 2012- We found out we were pregnant with little Crew man! I don’t know what else to say about that, we are so honored that God has chosen us to be stewards of his little life.

 

See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me. Song of Songs 2:11-13

So there you have it, YAY for March!

And....just a little treat for y'all. This is how Crew feels about March walks with momma!

 

 

 

Baby Crew!

So I am well aware that its been FOREVER since I've posted on my blog. However now that the crazy whirlwind of a newborn has settled and now that he's actually taking naps I do have time to update my blog. Crew Matthias was born on November 16, 2012 at 7:44 am weighing a whopping 8 lbs 11 oz (88%) and 21 1/2 inches long (99%). For all of my skeptics (my daddy included) I was able to have a complete drug free labor and delivery.

Crew eats like a champ (7 times a day) and sleeps like a champ (11-12 hours each night). Both of our parents say he's an easy baby however Trev and I aren't convinced. :) We love him so so much and are so honored that God has chosen us to look after him.

His 1 Month photo shoot.

At his 1 month appointment he weighed 12 lbs (95%) and was 22 1/4 inches long (80%).

This is really how the 1 month photo shoot went....fun times:)

 

 

 2 Months

Our 2 month photo attempt was much better. He weighs 14 lbs 3 oz (89%) and is 24.5 inches long (96%).

 

 3 Months...this month there was no Dr. appointment so no new measurements.

Sweet, sweet boy!

 

39 wks 4 days...any guesses?!

Here are some much requested belly pictures. They were taken Friday and today. We are so ready to have this baby. Believe me I've been trying everything to induce labor including a nice big tumble in Belk's parking lot yesterday...embarrassing.

I know I'm super behind on blogging. I have to upload pictures of the super cute shower that my friends at work threw me but I'm having technical difficulties with the fancy pants camera my parents lent us to see if we want to purchase one. Hopefully when momma comes (and hopefully this week) she will be able to upload them.

Due date is on Thursday the 15th. Any guesses on when baby boy is going to make his grand entrance? Daddy said yesterday....nope. Mana said today....unless I have a super amazingly short labor than nope. Momma thinks tomorrow and Trev's guess is the 18th oh gosh I should beat him for saying that:)