14 week check up!

We had a check up this morning so that Cal could get his booster shots before we traveled to Arizona for the bowl game.

Some highlights:

Weight: 15 pounds, 3 ounces-- 75th percentile

Height: 24 inches-- just below 75th percentile

Head Circumference-- 90th percentile (he is going to be SUPER smart!)

So funny: we have been battling with his sleep lately and we have really fallen into a great routine. Our appointment was at 8 this morning, so we were up an attum pretty early. Cal got up at 5 to feed (sigh) and went back to sleep hard. I could NOT wake him up to get him dressed this morning! I put him on his back, took off his clothes, and rubbed his belly.... NOTHING would work! It was too funny, and so ironic that when I am trying to WAKE him, he is dead to the world! Here is a picture of him from this morning....

Since Cal is still waking up at least one time a night (again, SIGH), our doctor told us it would be okay to give him a bottle of water when he wakes up, to show him that he isn't going to get the good stuff-- ha. The trick about that is Eddie has to give him the bottle. If I do it, he can smell my milk and will be SUPER unhappy and just freak out even more. Can you see why I am loving this new plan???? We'll see if it actually works. Eddie is a super heavy sleeper and doesn't hear him most of the time, and in the morning asks me how Cal did during the night. So, I would end up getting up anyway.

Speaking of routines.... just like Stephanie said, we have fallen into a great routine! It is just so much easier when things are predictable. He was going to bed at 9, getting up around 3, and then sleeping until 6:30. He got a cold last week and we had several very very very rough nights with my boy up because he couldn't breath out of his nose, and that is tough when sleeping on the stomach. But we are getting back into that, as last night was great. BUT, we are leaving for Arizona on Jan. 29th. There is a 3 hour time difference. How is THAT going to work with our routine??? Will he be going to bed at 6 their time (9 here)? and what on earth time will he be getting up in the morning? For the third time in this post, SIGH. (haha-- I am so dramatic). It will be fine. I will just be pretty exhausted and will have to go to sleep at 6 at night when he does! Oh, and can you imagine me staying up to ring in the new year? That will be 3 am here!!! HA! I am an oooooold lady now.

Anyway.... I am SO thankful to have a happy and healthy sweet baby boy, who is now napping in his swing after a rough morning of shots :(

3 Months

Dinner with Santa

The Chapel Hill Country Club has a "Dinner with Santa" every year that is a huge hit. We walked in this year, eager to participate, and saw what seemed like thousands of kids running around. It was awesome! Santa came in and started singing and all of the kids just froze, staring. He walked over to a chair and kids were allowed to come sit on his lap and take pictures, etc. Of course Cal was too little to have any idea what was going on..... we did get some fun pictures of the night!

Me, Eddie and Cal (3 months). Cal kept trying to eat the Santa on his outfit....

Me and my brother, Chris, with our kiddos

Cal, meet Santa....

Miller was not too happy about Santa!

And Jackson was even more not happy about him!

Maybe Santa told Jackson he was naughty??

All of the excitement wore Cal out. He decided it was time to take a snooze...

We had the best time with everyone and really tried to enjoy every minute of Cal meeting Santa. We realized quickly that next year he very well could be like the other kids there that totally freaked out when they sat on Santa's lap. We loved that he had no idea this year! :)

Holiday Card... out takes

Here are some of the attempts of getting a Christmas card this year:

Advent....for doggies!

Here is Hank's advent calendar. I can't wait to have one for Cal too. Until then, Hank will be doing the countdown for the family. It is within his reach, so we will see if it makes it the whole month. Two years ago, I came home to find Hank had eaten the bottom two rows. ha!

A new trick!

We are having the BEST time with Cal. He is just so much fun and so entertaining. What did we do before him?? (other than sleep in and lay around the house all day.....) He has been working on his leg muscles and this is his new trick....

he just cracks us up.....

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree....

The family headed out on Friday night to pick out our Christmas tree. We bundled Cal up and headed to the tree farm. I think we got a good one!!!

TCU Game Day

While in town for Thanksgiving, we were able to attend the final game of the Horned Frogs regular season. It also happened to be the only game standing between TCU and an undefeated season....WOW! We had a big time at the game and even rushed the field at the end of it (with Cal strapped to my chest!). Here are some of the pictures, but they are all on the mobileme site.

Now it's time to go BOWLING! We will find out where we go on Sunday..... stay tuned!!!

Bonding with Poppy

Eddie's dad had a really busy fall with football season. He flew in to NC before his team played Clemson to meet Cal. He got in after midnight and left at 6 the following morning. It was such a short visit, but it was worth it to be able to hold him.

As soon as we pulled in the driveway in TX, "Big Ed" (as I call him) or "Poppy" (as Cal will call him) ran out to meet our car. He had Cal unstrapped and in his arms within minutes of us getting there. He was soooooo sweet with Cal and I got some great pictures of them getting to know each other....(these are random pictures from the trip; they are allll out of order).

our last night in Texas....taking a little snooze together

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after brunch, Poppy got Cal asleep in his arms

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after the TCU victory, Poppy carried a sleeping Cal around the stadium

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Poppy got the big WIN and to hold his grandson :)... smiles all around

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this was as soon as we arrived. Cal was in his arms immediately

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then they got on the floor so Cal could stretch and "talk" to Poppy...

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Poppy wanted some alone time with Cal so he took him on a little walk in the neighborhood.

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Before the big game...Poppy was late to pre-game warm ups because he couldn't leave Cal!

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Showing him off to all of the coaches...

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Before the game started, in Poppy's office
Just talking in the kitchen :)

Cal's Texas Grandparents are crazy about him, and I just thought it was so special for Big Ed (Cal's namesake...sort of) to get to spend this time with his grandson. It was tough to leave them today...they didn't want to let Cal go! At least we will see them at the BOWL GAME soon.

Thanksgiving Day Feast

Eddie's mom picked us up at the airport and we headed to their house for Thanksgiving Dinner. Some of Eddie's dad's players were not able to have dinner with their families, so they came over to eat with us. I loved seeing Cal with those BIG guys!!!

Here are some pictures of Cal's super cute Thanksgiving Day outfit that almost didn't fit the little chunk:

It was a wonderful day, and we have so much for which we are thankful. I got a little teary-eyed over all of our blessings. Sweet Cal is such a little miracle and I am so thankful to have him and such a loving, wonderful husband to share my life with! Hope everyone reading this had a great Thanksgiving too!!!

xoxo

Turkey Day flying to Texas

We flew out Thanksgiving Day morning to Fort Worth to spend Thanksgiving with Eddie's family. Cal had a SUPER cute Thanksgiving Day outfit (if I do say so myself!), that was just about too small on him :). Good thing he couldn't eat everything on turkey day....it certainly would not have fit by the end of the day! Pics of this in next post...

Our flight was super early on Thursday, and I was pretty much a stress case trying to get everything ready to go. We did not take a stroller or car seat, so we didn't have to lug those items (we borrowed them from someone in Texas). I carried my diaper bag and Cal in the Baby Bjorn and put other important things in a carry on suitcase. When we got out of the car and loaded Cal in the carrier, he fell asleep immediately. We walked through the "special needs" line in the airport and they let me keep Cal in the carrier without having to take him out (PHEW!).

Cal in the carrier.....ready to go!

We got bulk head seats on the plane, so we have plenty of leg room. He woke up when we sat down, but wasn't fussy at all. I got out the "Hooter Hider" (hilarious name, by the way--ha!), and he ate away during take off. He fell right asleep and slept until we landed in Atlanta!

Snoozin' on the plane-- no big deal!!

In Atlanta, Eddie's sister, Carrie, met us at the gate; she was on the same flight from ATL to DFW! We were able to rearrange seats so that we could all be in a row together, so I wasn't going to be feeding him with a stranger right next to us. Again, I feed him on take off and he sleep the rest of the flight! PHEW!

Sitting in the Atlanta airport with Aunt Ceebs!

From Atlanta to Dallas/Fort Worth!

I was a nervous mess about flying with him, but he seriously did not cry once! On our first flight of the day, there were like 30 babies on the flight so it was a noisy flight, but our little guy wasn't adding to the chaos!

WE MADE IT! I was beyond exhausted by Thursday night (all the food might have something to do with that.....), but we did it! PHEW!

Seriously? It's December???

I looooove Christmas and the whole holiday season, so I have been anxiously awaiting the start of December to change the blog background. I have been in the *holiday spirit* since Halloween, when the radio stations started playing Christmas music! It's just such a happy time of year and makes me feel so blessed.

There's LOTS to update on the blog, but I couldn't do that until the backdrop was changed... :)

Happy Holidays, y'all!

PS-- I just wrote this, then went to change it, and the website is down--ha! I will change it as soon as it's up and running!

While Mom's away....

Today, I helped out a friend of mine who owns a bridal salon. She asked me to wear a couple gowns in a "fashion show" for an event that her salon was sponsoring. In order for me to participate, I had to leave the house at 1 and not get home until 7 ish. I was a little panic-y this morning getting everything ready. I got Cal all dressed and ready to go. Eddie came in and decided that he should get to pick Cal's outfit for the day, since they were going to be together... this is what he picked:

When I came home from the day, Cal had on no pants, no hat, one sock, a flannel button down shirt and was sound asleep on his tummy on the couch :). I took pictures of that too (with a different camera), and will upload them to mobile me eventually.

UPDATE: here is the picture of Cal when I got home from being gone:

Here are some pictures from the bridal show:

Me and Tiffani in our 2nd dresses.

Me and my "bridesmaid", Tiffani!

Some of the models before the finishing touches.... they were BIG finishing touches. :)

It was tough leaving Cal all day, but I think it was good for me...and Eddie! Eddie did such a great job with him. I knew he would be fine, but I panicked when I got a call from him saying Cal wouldn't take the bottle...yikes! I was freaking out, but it turns out, Cal just needed to be rocked to sleep and he was fine. When he woke up, he took the bottle like a champ! Phew! All in all, it was a great day. Eddie got some "guy time" and I was able to have some ME time (and get my hair and make up done.... who doesn't love that???).

HOT DOG!!! Momma's happy!

I woke up yesterday morning exhausted. We are trying to cut out one of Cal's nighttime feedings, but this means that momma still gets up every time he cries to put the paci back in and to soothe him until he is asleep. It is trying, but I know it is worth it. I looked at Eddie yesterday morning and I said, "This has GOT to start getting easier, because I am getting so tired!" I as getting up at midnight, 3:00, and 6:00 to feed, and then when we cut out a feeding, I was up at midnight, and then at 3 until about 4:30 and then at 5:30 again (ACK!).

But guess what? Last night, I put Cal down at 11:15 and he slept until......4:15!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOT DAMN!!!! Pardon my language, but I can't even tell you how rested I felt when I went into him at 4:15! I fed him, and put him back in the crib (on the tummy-yay!) and my boy slept until 6:15! I brought him in bed with us and fed him again and we both fell asleep until 8---

YEEEEEHHHAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!!!

Now let's see if it happens again...... please? please??? PLEASE?!?!?!?!?

JUST what I needed!

I have been stressing out about not having Cal on a schedule. He is 9 weeks old, not sleeping through the night, is unpredictable in his napping, and wants to eat all the time. Am I the world's worst mom??

Usually, when I talk to other moms about this, they suggest this book, or that philosophy...I always look into them, but really can't see me being THAT structured-- don't get me wrong: I want a schedule, but one where he can nap wherever we are, not in a pitch black nursery with whale songs playing (okay, that was an exaggeration....), but still, I want him to be able to be flexible enough to be able to nap anywhere, etc., and I just want to have some kind of predictability as to his eating.

Yesterday, I met a friend from college for lunch. Stephanie and I weren't in the same sorority at Elon, but we were in a bunch of education classes together and I always thought she was the sweetest girl. She has the most beautiful daughter who is 5 1/2 months and we had such a great lunch. Stephanie told me that her baby took until about 3 months to get into a real routine and she just kind of fell into it... no books about eat time/wake time/ play time....BLAH. Just let the kid be a kid and it will all happen.

Let me tell you: this was JUST what I needed! In hind sight, I think all of these other mothers that were telling me about the different philosophies were just making me feel less and less adequate as a mother. I know they weren't doing that on purpose, but when you talk to someone and they are *shocked* that you don't have your baby on a routine at 9 weeks, how are you supposed to feel?

So, Stephanie, if you are reading this: THANK YOU!!!! I loved having lunch with you and meeting your sweet little angel. I can't wait until we can do it again so you can make me feel a little more normal :).

Sigh....it's getting easier every single day...... :)

SPLISH SPLASH!

We have been giving Cal his bath on the counter of our bathroom, in his whale tub. After last night's bath, we will no longer be doing that. This went on for about 30 minutes, but we only grabbed the video camera for the last few minutes of it. It takes wayyyy too long to upload videos to the blog, but check it out on our mobileme site. You will see why he can't be on the counter any more! I am still cleaning up!

One month pictures!

I took Cal for his one month pictures with Tamara Lackey, our wedding photographer. She is SO talented and we are HUGE fans of hers. She was kind enough to waive the sitting fee since we are repeat clients. On our wedding day, she had a way of capturing our emotions the whole day, and I think she did a great job of doing that again with Cal.

I thought it was only going to be pictures of Cal, but she had me get in some of them (actually, a lot of them!). I am so in love with the pictures and couldn't be happier with how they turned out!

Enjoy!

http://www.tamaralackey.com/CalWilliamsonOctober2009/

Sad Anniversary

This past Saturday, the 14th, marked the one year anniversary of my miscarriage. I can't believe I am writing about it in such a public way, but I am not embarrassed about it, and I find when I talk about to people, there is someone else that has either experienced it themselves, or knows someone that has gone through it.

Last year, I found out I was pregnant on a Sunday, and I was beyond excited. It was still early, but we were super thrilled. We told our families and a lot of our close friends. That Friday I woke up to go to work, and I got my period :(. I was devastated. I had to go into work and try to hide my tears the whole day. I got into the doctor's office where they checked me and said it appeared to be a miscarriage, but wanted to do blood tests to confirm.

I was going to NYC with my mom for our annual "girl's trip" that afternoon, so while I was in the airport about to board my plane, the doctor called to confirm what I already knew.

It was SUCH a sad day, but I think that by going through it, it made me appreciate my pregnancy with Cal.

Looking back, I am able to see that it was God's way of taking care of an unhealthy baby, but at the time, it was difficult not to blame myself and think about everything I ate or drank to see if it was something I did.... well, it wasn't.

Sometimes you have to go through hard times like that in order to appreciate the true blessings that you are given. I sooooo appreciate my sweet little blessing.

For those of you that read this, if you have a miscarriage, know that you are not alone! It happens to a LOT of people! It is God's way of taking care of things and having you appreciate the blessings He gives you.

xxxxxooooo

8 week check up

How is it possible that Cal is 2 months old already? I swear, I was JUST pregnant!

We had his 8 week check up Wednesday night. I love love love our pediatrician as she is very laid back and never criticizes what I do or how I do it (ex. sleeping on his belly, etc...).

Here are his stats:

23 1/2 inches long (we don't think this was correct; the doc thinks it's too hard to get an accurate measurement on this for a while)

12 lbs, 15 ounces (!!!!)

41.5 head circumference.

He is in the 75-90% in weight

He is in the 75% in height

His head circumference is in the 90th percentile!!! No wonder he wouldn't deliver normally!

I talked to the doctor about his sleeping "issues." She feels there is no reason a baby of this size is not sleeping for 8 hour stretches....!!! So, we are working on stretching out even more! She suggested we move him into his room, where I can't hear his every move/grunt, and let him sleep on his tummy in there.

Speaking on sleeping on his tummy, after my last post about sleeping face down, my friend Alyssa sent me a link to a sensor pad that you can put under the crib mattress that senses baby's movements. My mom has been beyond worried about Cal sleeping on his stomach, so she ran out and bought one of those pads! I have been using it with Cal in the bassinet and it works! A little light flashes as it senses his heart beat, and if ever it doesn't sense movement for 20 seconds, an alarm sounds. I picked him up last night to feed him and forgot to turn it off and sure enough, the alarm went off!

Today, I am going to move the pad into the nursery and tonight is going to be a big night with Cal sleeping in his crib.... The doc feels that sometimes he wakes up at night to just rearrange himself, but I hear him moving and grunting, so I just grab him and feed him. She thinks he might be able to just fall back asleep if we give him the chance.... we will see tonight!

Finally, he got some shots yesterday and he was not very happy about it. He screamed soooo loudly and his face turned bright red. It just about broke my heart. I picked him up as soon as the nurse was done and within 5 minutes, he was sound asleep in my arms. I just wanted to squeeze him to make the pain stop. Sweet little thing...

That's all for now!

Grandma's new wheels

My parents live in Chapel Hill, right down the road. For Mother's Day last year, my brother and I gave my mom a double jogging stroller so that she could walk her boys (and other grandkids!). I went over there this week with Cal and she was keeping Jackson for the morning. We loaded up the boys and took the for a walk.

It warms my heart to think of how close these little guys are going to be. Jackson will be 2 in January. Cal is going to look up to Jackson and I know they are going to be great friends. Chris and Elizabeth (my brother and sis-in-law) are having a little girl in March.... she just might be the most watched over little girl in the world with big brother Jackson and cousin Cal!