Busy, Busy Boy

As many of you know, Lawson stays with his Nana (my mom) when Jason and I are at work. It's such a blessing to have her available to spend all that time with him. I figure if we can't be there to take care of  him ourselves, who better to do it than my mom. If you know my mom, it will come as no surprise to you that she keeps our boy very busy. Here are some of the highlights from the time he has spent with her:

Good naps.

Already reading.

Tummy time.

Making new friends.

Basketball history lessons.

More naps.

Swinging.

Trying out new toys.

Being silly.

I sure do miss this boy when I'm at work, but we're so thankful he has his Nana.

Mandy

4 Month Update

My little man is 4 months old!! 18 weeks today to be exact. I. Cannot. Believe. It.

People always say, "they just grow/change so fast..." This statement is something that has taken on new meaning since Lawson was born. I feel like he literally changes every day! He had his four month check up (and shots...boo...) this week so here is the update:

Weight:  16 pounds 6 ounces (75th percentile...he's not missing any meals as you can see from those cheeks!)

Length:  25 inches long (50th percentile)

Diaper Size: 2

Clothes:  Lawson is wearing 3-6 month clothes and they are just a fit. His 6 month stuff is still a little big, but we have decided that buying 3-6 month stuff is a waste since he will likely only wear it once.

Sleeping: Lawson has been sleeping through the night since I went back to work. It's like he knew I was going back and decided to let me sleep all night. Sweet boy! He consistently takes his last bottle around 8p and is asleep and in bed by 8:30p. He usually wakes for a bottle and diaper change between 5a and 7a. Once he's dry and feed, he goes back down for about and hour or sometimes two. Go ahead and say it...I'm so lucky!! Actually, we are blessed. He's just a GREAT baby!!! Praise the LORD!

Eating: Lawson takes about seven ounces of formula every four hours during the day and has two ounces of juice in the morning and in the afternoon. We will be trying rice cereal for the first time this weekend. VERY exciting!!! :-)

All-in-all, we have the BEST baby on the planet! He's happy and healthy and seems to just enjoy pretty much everything. He LOVES to kick his legs and now that he can roll from back to belly in both directions, he LOVES being on his belly. Although, he does get a little frustrated when there is a toy just out of reach and he can't get his front end to go at the same time as his back end. Poor guy. I'll post a video of that in another post.

Here are some pics and a video from his doctor's appointment. These are pre-shots.

More to come...

Now I've Said My ABC's...

Well folks, it's finished. Yep. The long talked about alphabet wall in Lawson's room is finished!!!

I don't know about you, but I LOVE IT!!! Some of the letters I made/purchased myself, but many of them were gifts/made by others. Here's the rundown:

The letter A is brought to you by Julie Mosley.

The letter D (as in Dallas Cowboys) is brought to you by my pal Carla Glass.

The letter G is brought to you by my Mom (Nana). It's made from lariat rope that used to be my Grandpa's. 

The letters C, F, J, and L are brought to you by Katie Kratzberg.

The letter M is brought to you by Brockette Minnick.

The letter N is brought to you by Nancy Rhodes.

The letters O (yes that's a button...so cute) and Q are brought to you by Monique Forehand. She MADE that button!!

The letters R, T, V, and X (yep, two baseball bats :-)) are brought to you by my Dad and Step-mom (Grandpa and Gigi).

The letter Y is brought to you by the lovely ladies who coordinated my shower at work.

The letter Z is brought to you by Dre' (she doesn't really need a last name...she's Dre!:-))

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who helped make this vision a reality. Thanks to Katie K who originally showed me the idea in the first place. I LOVE IT!!! 

"...now I've said my A, B, C's. Next time won't you say 'em with me...."

Mandy

Newborn Photos

I realize it's been a while since Lawson was a newborn and these photos were taken, but I wanted to share a few of my favorite shots. And, next week I promise to post a 4 month update with pictures so this will give you a good comparison.

Don't they look snug?

How sweet is he?

My sweet boy.

In case you're wondering, Wendy White took these (and many more). She is FANTASTIC!!! SO good with newborns!! www.wendylwhitephotography.com

Mandy

2 Months Continued...

I thought I would give a little stat report on how Lawson is doing beyond just length and weight. Here are some of his accomplishments:

Tries to hold his own bottle.

Play this super fun toy until he falls asleep and just can't kick another second. :-)

Hold his head up while on his tummy (even though he hates being on his tummy).

Smile for the camera!

Roll over from tummy to back.

Put toys in his mouth.

He has also found his fist/thumb and loves them. :-)

This is the short version. If you'd like to hear me brag on how smart my sweet boy is, let me know. I'm glad to do it. :-)

Mandy

2 Months!!

I can't believe it, but Lawson is 2 months old already (actually, as of tomorrow he will be 10 weeks)! He is growing and changing SO much So fast. Last week was his two month doctor's appointment. Dr. Jon says he's growing good and is pretty perfect. He weighed 12 pounds 4 ounces and was 23 inches long. CRAZY!!!

We decided on camo for shot day. Makes you feel tough. :-)

 After shots. The doctor's office even had camo band-aides.

Lawson was so brave for his shots. He cried when the nurse gave them, but once she was finished and I picked him up, he was good. Such a big boy!!

Mandy

And We're Back...

So I know it's been a long time, but I've been a little busy with this little guy...

Most of you probably know how it all went down, but just for the sake of having it in print, here's the story.

We had a great Christmas, and I enjoyed the week off between Christmas and New Year's Day. I did stuff around the house and really just tried to get as much rest as possible. Then, on New Year's Eve, it hit me. I was sick: upper respiratory and deep chest congestion/cough sick. I went to my doctor's appointment on Tuesday, January 3. The doctor gave me a prescription and said I should go home and rest until I was better..."you need to be well when you have that baby." She asked me to come back on Friday, the 6th, to see if I was getting better. I am blessed to have a wonderful job with people who stepped up and handled my work that week, so I stayed home all week and basically slept and coughed...coughed a lot. 

On Friday, January 6, I woke up hurting. To be honest, I wasn't sure if it was labor or what (having never been in labor before), but since Jason was off work that day, we loaded our bags and went to my scheduled doctor's appointment. By the time we left our house, I was pretty sure what I was feeling every 5 - 10 minutes were contractions, which made me decide I definitely wanted an epidural. :-) Here's the time line for the rest of the day:

8:45 am  Checked in at doctor's appointment (still sick and having contractions)

9:15 am Doctor confirms I'm in labor, dilated to 3 and 100% effaced

10:00 am Checked in to labor and delivery

11:30 am Got epidural (thank the Lord!)

2:15 pm Nurse runs every one out of the room and we get to work

3:26 pm Lawson Jace Keyes arrives (and life as we knew it changed...for the best)!!!

First photo. 

Proud Daddy.

Lawson weighed in at 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 21 inches long. He was beautiful (of course) from the first moment we laid eyes on him. We were released from the hospital and sent home on Sunday, January 8 weighing 7 pounds 9 ounces...so tiny.

That bed looks way to big for such a tiny baby.

This was his first nap in his bed at home.

As you can imagine, our lives have been forever changed. We are so thankful for a beautiful, healthy baby boy. He is growing and growing and learning all kinds of new things every day. I will post more about all that with pictures soon.

Mandy