10.09.2009

"Foxie Knoxie"

Since things were pretty tough at the Lawson residence there for a while, I went home to my mom and sister quite a bit for the extra help. Here are a few snaps that were taken while we were down there. The girls are absolutely obsessed with "baby Knox" and are thrilled every time we come down. Sister usually doesn't tell them, we let it be a surprise. It's way fun because most of the time the big girls are in school and when they come home Knox and I will hide somewhere in the house and they FREAK OUT when they find us...sometimes I put Knox in his car seat on the front steps and ring the doorbell and hide in the bushes and Robyn lets them answer, etc. They started calling Knox "Foxie Knoxie" from the very beginning and my sister and I died laughing! love those girls. They are the cutest, sweetest things ever and I feel like they are mine half the time. Still hoping that someday soon we will be reunited!!!

Hanging out on Carley's bed...

Letting Ashton sing to me...

"Big-sister cousin" holding me (thats what Carley calls herself)

All this loving is making me sleepy :)

And we can't forget "Mama Abbie"...always taking care of everyone!

How can you not love her??????

They even love my first born just the same...

10.05.2009

2 month update...

Hello fellow bloggers! Life has been a little hectic lately, but I just wanted to post little man's stats and send out a HUGE PRAISE because he officially does NOT have colic! Whoop whoop. Instead, he has acid reflux-which is extremely painful and sad-but with the help of our new friends Axid, Metoclopramide, and Mylanta (his meds), he has been feeling sooooo much better. Which, in turn, has made me feel sooooo much better! I have been able to do some new things with him lately such as put him down in his little swing and vibrating chair and clean the kitchen while singing and dancing to him (OK...maybe I rap a little bit to him), and he actually smiles and laughs at me! I know this sounds silly, but this is a big deal since he has never done this before! I feel like I am an actual mother with a baby that likes me now! Please join me in praying that the medicine continues to work, and even more so that the Lord would heal him of the reflux completely! So far there has been a night and day difference with his behavior and there is no one else to give glory to other than the Lord!
Here are his 2 month stats:

weight- 12 pounds - 55th percentile
height- 23 and 3/4 inches - 85th percentile

He is looking more and more like his daddy with every day that goes by, with reddish / brownish hair!!


9.20.2009

Prayer

Warning: This post was created by an extremely sleep deprived mommy!

On a serious note, I am definitely sleep deprived. Just wanted to start by throwing that bit of info out there. Knox is only 8 weeks old, and I can't remember what it was like to have a full night's sleep!
So...I have been talking to Lee a little bit over the past few days about why I have the blog, and what is the purpose of it? I guess my first instinct is to say that I can keep up with friends and hear whats going on in every one's lives...which is very true, and I really enjoy that. Then we talked a little more about the things that I post on my blog. The answer? Only happy or positive things that might make me look like I have it all together. Notice that I haven't really had any recent posts lately?? That's because life hasn't been so easy the past few weeks, hence the lack of blogging. I have actually thought about not blogging anymore because I am fearful that it wouldn't be an honest blog, but then I had an idea...what if I blogged about the good AND the bad, and honestly told people the hard things that are going on in my life as well, so here we go!
Well, let me first say that I still don't understand how or why the Lord has entrusted me as a mother. I know there are people out there, close friends included, that are unable to conceive and it astounds me that the Lord allowed me to have Knox. There is absolutely nothing in my life that I have done to deserve him. In fact, I think it's just the opposite...I have done everything NOT to deserve him. But for some reason He allowed it, and I will never fully understand why. I do know that He is using Knox to teach me. Now, am I being a good student??? Don't make me answer that! :) The thing is this: my personality has become ridiculously A-type over the past few years. I don't know where it came from, but I have it. I kept telling myself when I was pregnant that I would probably have to throw that out the window, and boy was I right. Just because I was right doesn't mean that I actually threw it out the window... I am still holding on to it as much as I can, which is making having a newborn so much harder...
When Knox first came home, he slept peacefully for at least 6 hours through the night. What a breeze! Lee and I were like, "We can totally do this! We could have like 5 of these!!!" Well, then my little buddy starting wanting to eat all day everyday, then my milk supply started running low and I had to start supplementing which made me feel like a failure (my head knows that this is TOTALLY a lie, but my heart still has a hard time with it), then his little tummy starting having some painful issues which we are still dealing with, then the doctor confirmed that he has colic, and now we are hoping to get a few good hours of sleep in a night! Goodness. I will be honest, feeling like a failure of a mommy has been a huge issue for me lately. Sometimes I am bitter with the Lord because these are all things that we committed to praying for while I was pregnant, and I feel like its all coming apart bit by bit! I know that the Lord is sovereign and faithful, but sometimes I just wish He did it MY way, ya know ( I hope you sense the sarcasm)?? I think that I just pictured a sweet, quiet, peaceful baby that slept through the night early on, RARELY cried, and smiled at me all the time. Haha. Wouldn't that be ideal?? The truth is that we have SO much to be thankful for. Knox is a healthy baby and there is nothing more important than that. A little fussiness and lack of sleep can be considered a dream to couples who are going through much worse, and I never want to lose sight of that. I never imagined feeling so much love for something so small, and no matter how much sleep I am "deprived" of...nothing will change that. I would do this 100 times over just to have Knox in my arms!
Another thing is that I miss my sister and mother more than I could ever imagine. I have lived away from them before, but having a baby in the mix now just makes it a little more tough for me. My sister and I always imagined living down the street from each other and raising our kids together, and I am sad that God does not have that in His plan for now. I also miss my sweet, sweet friends from our church in Fairhope that became our family as well. It's hard to live in a new place and to try to get involved in a new church when you have a new baby on your hands! I will say that our church here has been very sweet to us and has reached out to us since Knox's birth, and we are very thankful for that! I am excited about getting to know the women and ALL the children that go to Eastwood. Each family seriously has a minimum of 4 kids. Some have up to 7 or 8. I am not kidding...it's an ongoing joke that you have to produce a LOT of kids to be a member there!
I feel like I have rambled a lot on this post. I guess I am just really asking for prayer. Some of the few people that actually keep up with this blog already know most of what I posted about, but some of you don't. Please pray that the Lord would just be with Knox and heal his little belly, and help him to feel comfortable and have an easy spirit. And for me, please pray that my rest would be multiplied and that I would just be laid back and not expect a perfect schedule from Knox right now. And also that my heart would trust that the Lord is good at ALL times...even at 4 a.m. in the morning , and know that where I fall short, HE will provide. And lastly...please pray for my husband, that he wouldn't think that his wife is a basket case!!


8.30.2009

Babywise

Don't know how many moms out there are trying to implement Babywise, but I came across this blog and found it somewhat interesting and helpful...

8.27.2009

Chunker

Are. you. kidding. me.??
Lee and I took Knox to the pediatrician for his 1 month check up today, and here are his stats:

Weight: 10 pounds 2 ounces = 70 %!!
height: 22 1/2 inches = 80%!!
head: 14 1/4 = 10 %

Did you notice the first 2? Let me just tell you that we are comparing everything to my extremely TALL husband's stats when he was a baby. Lee was also a quite a chunk himself when he was a wee babe...so chunky that he seriously couldn't fit his tongue into his mouth. This is no lie. I have several pics to back me up on this, thanks to Lolli. Anyways, at this point, Lee was only 9 pounds 6 ounces and 21 1/4 inches tall. Does this mean that I will have to break my neck to look at BOTH my husband AND my son when I am talking to them?? Lee was dancing around the doctors office when he saw how tall he was and how much he weighed. When I saw how quickly he has grown, my mouth dropped...
Our pediatrician is an elder at our church, and we LOVE him (we just found out that we are in his mentor group as well, so we are super pumped). While he was giving us all the info, he was practically laughing himself out of his chair when he said that Knox has gained 45 ounces in 30 days. My natural response was, "Is that normal?? Should I be concerned?" And he replied with, "Regan! It's great! Totally fine and healthy (as he continues to laugh)." I then ask what the norm was for most babies and he said, "Well...typically at this point they gain about 30 ounces in 30 days." WHAT?! Am I raising a sumo wrestler over here??? Sad thing is that my milk production is not quite keeping up with Knox by the late afternoon / nighttime so I am going to have to give him an ounce or 2 of formula after breast milk (I am hoping this explains some crankiness that he has had in the late afternoons). I now have visions of Knox as an adolescent teenager eating me out of house and home. Haha. Seriously, I am just glad he is healthy and I actually love the thought of raising a bunch of tall boys (hopefully we will have more sons built like daddy):). I know that we really can't tell just from these stats what his actual size will be, but I have always joked and said that I can see our future Christmas cards with Lee, Knox, and how ever many other sons we have towering over me (I feel like we will be an all boy family for some reason!). Now it looks like the joke just might become a reality!
Naturally, I have to run and go feed Knox, but here are some quick pics from over the last month...

Daddy and Knox:

Passed out:

On my 1 month bday:

sleeping through bath time :)

First time at church:

P.S... does the 10 % stat for the size of his head mean that he will have a pea head? Haha. I hope not!

8.19.2009

Proof!

Just sorting through and organizing some pictures, and I came across this pic of the Miracle Blanket and WubbaNub (that I mentioned in the earlier post today). Thought it was great proof that I do actually own and LOVE these items!

Bare necessities...

See full size image See full size imageSee full size image



As I am sure that you already know, my days are filled with taking care of my 3 and a half week old baby (and loving every minute of it!). However, I found it pretty necessary to take time out from my REST time (when he naps) to blog about something very important (you know it's important if I am giving up my rest time :)). Haha. It's probably not that important to many people, but for you expecting moms - or mother's of small babies - you might be interested.
Since Knox has joined the fam, I have had many pregnant people ask me what are some things that I found to be necessities in the early stages. Every single time I answer with the following 2 items (and my husband is quick to give these answers as well). First would be the MIRACLE BLANKET, and let me tell ya...this puppy has worked a miracle for us. Pretty much, it's a swaddle blanket...but one that works amazingly well for many people. It has extra compartments to fold arms, legs, etc. so that they are SURE not to come unswaddled. Knox slept for 6 hours at a time for the first 2 weeks (now it's a different story...more like 4 hours at a time. He's pretty much an eating machine, and no swaddle can fix that :)). Anyways, we are certain that his sleeping habits are largely due to this wonderful invention. I have had girls tell me that their swaddle blanket wasn't really that great, and then they ordered this beautiful item and fell in love. I know different things work for different babies, but if you are looking for a good blanket...I think you should give this a try!
Second...the WubbaNub. Yes, I said wubbaNub. Sounds crazy, but it's a pacifier. Let me just say that I know some people don't believe in or like pacifiers, but we are definitely a pacifying family over here and have found this to be fantastic. It all started years ago when my sister had her precious girls. I saw the crazy looking pacifier that they used and was like, "What in the world????" My sister then told me that they had researched and found the perfect paci (for them), and that I would thank her for it someday when I had my own children. Boy, was she right (she seems to be right about most baby related subjects :))! These WubbaNubs look a little crazy, but the animal that is attached helps to keep the pacifier in the baby's mouth, allowing them not to get frustrated or wake up like some do when a regular paci falls out. Knox LOVES his green froggy, and when he is awake during the day and has it in his mouth, he likes to hold the frog with his hands. It's really cute!
O.K., that's that. I definitely don't want to sound like I know what I am doing as a first time mom (just ask my sister, Cathie, or Danielle...they will vouch for me as I flood them with baby questions all day long), but I did want to share 2 things that have really been awesome for us, and I hope I can help some people out along the way, and possibly help them have a great experience like we have thus far!
Check out the following links below to see the items that I am raving about!

http://www.miracleblanket.com/index.htm