Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

Drew turned 5 months on Friday. Woot, woot. He has experienced a ton of 'firsts' within the past week. Along with his voice changing, he has discovered his feet and mommy's hands. He will play with my fingers until he falls asleep. Too funny. He also rolled over onto his tummy by turning onto his right side. All of his prior rolls have been toward the left. Within minutes of his new direction, he rolled toward his left, or was it his right, and then landed on his back. He's never been able to roll from tummy to back. To top his record, he proceeded to roll over two or three times, ending up far from his playmat. All of this happened as we were talking to my father on Skype. I think he was showing off. In other news: peas and pears. He loves 'em both, though he is still quite fond of cereal. Our little guy should be crawling by Thanksgiving. Seems like just yesterday he was being introduced to the world.

Peas on the floor

Andrew began eating cereal a couple weeks ago and has advanced to sweet potatoes, squash (he loved) and now peas. Half of his peas and cereal found its way to the floor this morning. Our first real mess. :) I'd clean up after him anytime. He's so cute! Other advances include rolling over, sticking out his tongue and loving his Jumperoo. He's also trying to sit up on his own. It's just a matter of time before he's crawling. This post will be short on words, but long on pics. Enjoy! Oh, please disregard his outfits. These days, most of them are either soaked with drool or stained with food. Joy.

His new favorite trick! He can barely eat because he's constantly sticking out his tongue.

This is just a dreamy pic. Love those big, brown eyes!

Taking a break from the Cowboys v. Rams game for a photo opp. Look at that smile!

Last, but not least, check out this video of him rolling over. He had been doing this for about 10-15 minutes before I finally capture it on camera. So, he was pretty tired. Just as I reached to help, he helped himself! You'll see at the end, he stretches out as if to say, whew! I'm tired! :) So proud of my Sugar Bear.

Light of Life

Last night was the first time we (almost) allowed someone to babysit our Heavy Duty Cutie while we went to celebrate with the staff, volunteers, fellow board members, and supporters of the Downtown Pregnancy Center. It's an awesome nonprofit dedicated to saving lives. Find out more here.

Well, at the last minute, we decided to take Drew with us. He was an excellent baby. He was sleep when we arrived, woke up, ate dinner, and then proceeded to affirm everything Bruce Wilkinson said in his talk for life. Macie Jepson was the emcee and even former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and his wife, Laura, were table hosts. There were about 500 of us at the Omni Mandalay in Las Colinas, praying and asking God to use us to save lives of preborn babies.

In the end, I couldn't think of a better place for our first born gift to be. Thank you God for forgiveness and restoration.

AP classes

Drew is gonna be an advanced placement student, I just know it. Of course, this speculation was prompted by all the new stuff this little guy has done this week. For starters, he is now apparently ticklish under the arm. I was cleaning his chubby baby folds and he was just laughing out loud. Second, he now bounces up and down when standing on my lap. Third, he discovered a new sound on his playmat by kicking his feet. You could see his brain at work, connecting the dots: move feet = crinkle noise. Drew also has become more aware of our mini poodle, Zuzu. He follows her moves. Later that day, during bath time, I leaned him forward to wash his back and he grabbed the sides of his tub with both hands. I moved mine away and voila! He sat upright all by himself! Lastly, he has made the connection between seeing something, wanting to touch it, and purposefully reaching for it. See, my baby is ready for prime time. :)

Firsts

Andrew has always been a great car traveler. Now, he's ready for a passport! We aren't on our way out of the country just yet, but this little guy has completed his first plane ride, to Chicago, AND his first road trips to Michigan, Iowa and Indiana! In three months he has seen more of this US of A than a lot of folks experience in a lifetime. Another highlight was our family visit to the Indiana State House in Indianapolis. For Anthony and me, it was our 17th state Capitol building, but, of course, it was Drew's first!

Add to all that, while away on his first vacation Drew surprised us by rolling onto his right side, then a couple days later his left. He topped those off by lifting himself forward from a seated reclining position on my lap to sitting upright with very little assistance! As the elders say, this boy is making room... That remains to be seen! Ha

Anywho, family and friends doted on our son and just loved him up as we spent nearly three weeks away from home. When Daddy joined us in Chicago, Drew could not have been happier! It was such a blessing to go, but in the end there truly is no place like home.

It's good to be back!

Hour Glass

Wow! Where has the time gone? It's been nearly a month since we checked in to let y'all know how Drew is making it in his new world! Well, he's doing great, all 12 pounds, 23 inches of him!

In the past weeks, he has grown even stronger and is showing his personality. He laughed out loud for the first time Friday. Prior to then, he was all smiles and chatter. Like last Tuesday, when we called his Nana to wish her a happy birthday. She and I couldn't get a word in because Drew had lots to say and he said it loud!

He's almost three months old now, and every day I grow more and more in love with our miracle boy, something I thought would be impossible after the depth of affection I felt for him when we first met.

I'm your huckleberry!

You know the term cry baby? Well, I'm beginning to think it applies more to me than to my son! Today was my final post delivery doctor's visit and though Drew was well fed, dry, and sleepy, he would NOT go to sleep. Instead, he treated the ladies in the waiting room (and the folks in the hallway) to a melody of cries so loud you would have thought he was wet and hungry.

Coupled with the extended wait time, I became a bit emotional - darn post-delivery hormones - and proceeded to cry in front a of a total stranger who then tried her best to console me. She told me that everyone understood and what better place for him to cry than at the doctor's office! She also told me that once, when her daughter was an infant, some many year ago, she cried from take off to landing in Colorado. Wow! Mind you, Drew and I will take our first plane ride in just a few short weeks.

Anyway, by then the lovely and always cheerful lady who takes your payment and schedules follow-ups had returned to her desk and proceeded to give me the biggest and MUCH needed hug, assuring me that what I felt was normal for a first time mom. She even prayed over me in the process! The Lord knows just what we need, when we need it. I'm so grateful for that rainbow in the midst of my personal storm.

On top of that, you know how babies smile right before they toot, making you think they were smiling at you but they really just have gas? Well, Drew does that often but not today! After the earlier meltdown, he treated Mama to 15-20 minutes of smiles and baby chatter! This was the first of many 'real' smiles and conversation with my miracle manchild. Needless to say, that made everything ALL better... for Mama! LOL

We're still here

Check out this awesome pic courtesy of Lynn in Love.

It has been more than a month since our last post, but we're still here. Andrew Lincoln has turned our world upside right. We are still navigating the choppy waters of new parenthood, hence the absence of daily... heck weekly posts. So much has happened. A few milestones:

+ Drew is alert - Those of you getting the plethora of photos and videos, know this is true. Our little blessing follows my voice and is all ears when Daddy reads the Bible or recites Scripture to him! Joy!

+ Drew is growing - He was born 6 lbs, 8 ounces and left the hospital on May 31 weighing 5 lbs, 15 ounces. Within two days he was back up to 6 lbs, 6.8 ounces and is now more than 8 pounds. He loves to eat, too!

+ Drew smiles - When his great-grandma Viv was here, he smiled at her almost every time he laid eyes on her. It was the sweetest thing to witness!

+ Drew is a road dog - Our baby loves to ride in the car! By the time we back out of the driveway at home and get out of our neighborhood, he's already on his way to Napland. We can be gone for several hours and he'll sleep pretty much the entire time.

Drew is already deciding what he likes and doesn't:

He adores looking at sources of light - the window, white ceilings, light fixtures

When he's sleepy, he likes to be walked around in his Baby Bjorn or have his back rubbed and lightly patted. He doesn't like to sit in his swing or bassinet to be left alone to sleep. He's a cuddler!

He doesn't like when it takes too long to change his clothes or diaper, if the latter situation occurs, one may be treated to waterworks!

He loves to drink at least 4 ounces of milk, but he doesn't like to take burp breaks.

Here we are celebrating Daddy's birthday!

He's Here

Our bundle arrived Saturday, May 28 at 9:27 a.m. Andrew Lincoln is perfect, absolutely perfect! He came out showing us just how strong are his lungs and at four days old, he has already proven himself to be quite a trooper.

I could go on and on about him and, trust me, I will... but for now, I'll just leave you with pictures of our miracle man child. We are in LOVE!!!

What to wear

Today Baby S is 38 weeks old! Can you believe it? Seems like just yesterday we saw "two bars" on the HPT. Now, we are planning for childbirth in exactly 7 days. How quickly the time has gone.

At this weeks appointment, the doctor confirmed baby's position is unchanged and estimated weight should be around 7 pounds. Since both mommy and daddy were tiny babies, I assumed this little one would be, too. Apparently not so. While Baby S isn't likely to exceed 8 pounds, 7 and a bit is still nice and healthy, I think.

This doesn't really help us make a clear decision on coming home outfits for the LO. We bought a handful of items is two sizes - newborn and 0-3 months. We're holding off on washing them until we know whether a dress is needed or one of the absolutely adorable jumpers for boys.

Of course, it really doesn't matter what baby wears. We just look forward to bringing our bundle of blessings home.

Room Service

So, after weeks of planning, shopping, and then days upon days of procrastinating, Baby S' nursery is finally ready. Well, 99.9 percent ready. Just need to do a little laundry and set up the changing station. Other than that, here's the finished product.

Comfy in there

Today was our 36 week ultrasound and Baby S was in the same comfortable position. Though there has been a lot of shifting in the tummy since our last peek, he or she has not 'flipped' and is still resting peacefully on the left side, curled up with the head well above mommy's belly button.

There are greater risks when moms go into labor and baby is breech, so with about 30 days to go, the doctor went ahead and scheduled a c-section to ensure that we'll have a surgical suite just in case the baby doesn't turn before we reach the 39 week mark. So, we have a tentative birth date for Baby S - May 28. We shall see.

Other than that, everything is going very well. We could see that Daddy's high, sculpted cheekbones are one trait that has already been passed down. Can't wait to kiss on those chubby cheeks! Also, the baby's heart beat today was at 130 and the weight was 5.97 pounds. So, looks like when our Blessed Little One arrives we'll be holding at least 6 pounds of total cuteness!

God is SO good!

See! Doesn't it look all comfy, cozy in there? This is one of my favorite pics taken by a super sweet friend and talented photographer, Shelli Couch. Check out the rest of her creative works on her website.

Turning Tables

Lots of material has been published on pregnancy. I'm reading some of it and motivated by one of my books, I planned a final, pre-baby girl's night out.

However, after arriving at the restaurant of choice - Grimaldi's at Watters Creek - I soon realized my girlfriends had turned the tables! They had planned a surprise birthday dinner. Since my big day is just two weeks before Baby Scruggs' anticipated debut, they figured they'd take this opportunity to celebrate with me.

It was awesome. In addition to the balloons, candles, and a delicious, over-the-top assortment of minis from Nothing Bundt Cake, the girls had reached out to a bunch of family and friends, including them in the surprise.

Each person was asked to share why they love me. The girls took those sweet sentiments - all 40 of them - and created a huge, laminated birthday card! I could barely read for tears.
It was SUCH a special evening. Never have I been that surprised in advance of my big day.

Soon, Anthony and I will welcome our Blessed Little One and as we wind down these next 30-something days, I feel completely and utterly loved by my family and friends.

Thank you, Lord. I AM grateful!

The Cross

Prep Machine

Over the weekend, Daddy was a baby prepping machine. In one day, he attended a three-hour car seat class, painted the nursery ceiling Martha Stewart's Heavenly Blue, put together Baby S' bassinet, and assembled the crib!

My contribution was doing the first official load of baby laundry - four sheets, a mattress pad, and two bassinet sheets. Yay! And, I found this super cute lamp on the clearance table at Home Depot. Ain't it cute?

Packages!

I love receiving packages, especially unexpected ones. So, imagine my sheer delight yesterday when we got three of 'em! Technically, four, but one was an order I'd placed for those custom prints soon to be hung in the nursery.

Anywho, the bundles contained a crib mattress, quilted, waterproof pad, sheets, and a much-desired wireless, color baby monitor! All items from our registries. Woo hoo!

Little Blue Bird

Seven and half weeks from now (or less) we'll make a 20-30 minute journey to a neighboring town for a life-changing experience - Labor & Delivery!

The other day I started making a list of things to pack. In addition to a going home outfit for the Blessed Little One, an air mattress for Daddy, and a cache of gadgets that'll help us capture and document baby's arrival, I'm gonna take this!

It's a small gift given to me by my Aunt Hazel. She was a hoot. A long-time educator in the Birmingham school district, she was the kind of person who said whatever came to mind. She held nothing back. We shared May as a birth month.

Aunt Hazel is in heaven now, after a battle with cancer. Despite the diagnosis, she never stopped smoking. That's just how she was, a strong-willed, fiery, courageous, rebellious-but-brilliant woman. I can't think of a better focal point for those hard moments in labor than this sweet, little blue bird.

Things kids say

I'd been searching and searching for this because I thought it was the cutest commercial ever produced. Even though I've seen  it a bunch of times, it makes me giggle!

Short and sweet

Wow. Yesterday's post was like super long. This one will be short on words and long on pics from our baby shower. The hosts used lemons, inspired by fruit of the womb in Psalm 127:3. It also reminded me that through some challenging years on our journey to parenthood we made lemonade...The first pic is how our CD's of images arrived from Candace Johnson of Pixel FX Photography. She's an awesome shooter!

See. Super cute packaging!

Nursery in Progress

Seems like I've had a bunch to say via this blog lately. LOL Today I'll give you a sneak peek at how the nursery is coming along. There's not really a theme, per se, but the inspiration is coastal/beach. Though I can only float, water is one of my favorite natural resources to be near. Something about looking out over a deep blue ocean, a man-made Texas lake, or even a swimming pool is just SO calming. These photos I took in February on the South Carolina coast, near Charleston. They'll hang above baby's bed.

Being on Team Green means we need a gender neutral space that will adapt to whichever God chooses, a boy or a girl. I really despise color sexism. Yeah, I'm a girl and I like pink and green, but I also love cobalt blues, forest greens, chocolate browns, etc. Oops. How did that soap box get there?

Anyway, these are some items I found at HomeGoods. They serve as my jumping off point for decor. A couple days after purchasing them I found a luxurious, shimmery, sky blue curtain panel on the discount shelves at T.J. Maxx. It's beautiful and I'll post a pic once we get it hung.

To brighten things up, (since our crib and dresser are espresso), I'll add a white basket/organizer for the changing table, bright green bedding, and this bookcase (not the best pic) from IKEA. It's the Expedit with Knipsa baskets. Love it!

Our first furniture item received and promptly assembled by Anthony was the Carter's Chocolate Sleigh Glider. I Love this pic of our future nursing corner. The wall to the right used to be a dark chocolate, Otter, by Sherwin Williams, but sweet hubby primed and painted it last weekend to match the rest of the room, which is SW Believable Buff. It made a huge difference in such a small space. Next, we'll paint the ceiling (and maybe add crown molding).

Sorry for the dark doorway and paint ladder in this last one. The wall between the two doors is where we'll place our Psalm 121 decal we custom ordered from dalidecals.com They were super fast responding to our inquiry. I sent an email at like 5 a.m. Saturday morning and by 9 a.m. I had a quote and by noon we'd placed the order! Can't wait to put it up.

It'll be a constant reminder to our Little Beloved that the Lord is with them every step of the way.