Five Months...

How is time flying by so fast?! I know I say it in every month's post, but I truly feel like Watson is changing so much every day. He is at such a fun age - we love watching his sweet little personality bloom more and more each day. He is an incredibly content, happy, and easy baby - we are truly blessed beyond measure.

We did not have a 5 month appointment, so we do not have W's weight and height for this month.
Size diaper: 2
Size clothes: 6 months (some 6-9 months)
Eating: 6oz 4 times a day, sometimes 7oz. We have started adding some rice cereal to his bottle since spoon feeding it did not go over so well with his little tummy. We are going to start that back up this month, though, so that he can be ready for actual baby food at 6 months.
Sleeping: 11-12 hours at night. Napping two times a day, about 1-2 hours each. He almost always falls asleep in the early evening before his nighttime bottle as well, but I wouldn't exactly call this a full nap..maybe a cat nap :)

To say that we have an active baby is quite the understatement! This boy LOVES to roll all over the floor and scoot himself around. If one of his toys is out of his reach, he is bound and determined to get to it...and always manages to do so! He almost always rolls immediately to his tummy when you lay him on the floor, but the past week or so he has found his feet and decided that he loves having a built in paci. Not his thumb, as you would think...but his toes. Yes, his toes. He is trying so hard to sit up on his own. If he is in his swing, bouncy, car seat...anything that has him in a reclining position, he tries so hard to sit up. Graham and I always joke about how strong his little abs must be with the positions he holds :) He was doing pretty well in the bumbo seat, but the past week or so he has decided that he does not like it...at all...always calls for some tears.


Watson love, love, loved his Johnny Jump Up! I put him in it for the first time and he squealed, laughed and smiled the entire time. So precious!!! He plays so hard in this that it always calls for a nice long nap :) Win for both of us!

We tried starting some rice cereal at the beginning of the month, but it did not go over so well so we took him off of it. We are having such a difficult time getting his reflux under control. He is on a different medicine for it now, but it does not seem to be helping much at all. If anyone has ANY suggestions, please let me know!!! We are so fortunate that he is not a fussy reflux baby, but it is just constant spit up. All. Day. Long.

He still talks, smiles, laughs, and squeals all the time - I love the sweet noises that he makes...they melt my heart! He loves toys, rattles, stuffed animals and books..and does not like for something that he is playing with to be taken away from him!

Watson's first Thanksgiving was so much fun. We stayed in Birmingham and spent the day with my parents and my mom's side of the family. Watson and Abby showed up in matching outfits (this was not planned, actually) so we had to get lots of pictures of them together :)

This past week (I feel like I keep saying that...guess it has been a week of changes for our little man!) Watson began responding to his name. He always gets such a surprised look on his face when he turns towards you...always good for a laugh from his parents!

W met Santa for the first time this week - as you can tell from the picture, he wasn't too impressed :) (Don't mind the fact that it looks like he has on capris...Santa's elves were really rushing things along so I couldn't fix his little outfit before the picture was taken...)

This just might be my most favorite picture...ever. Our friend Jared was shooting some pics for us to use on our Christmas card - I had looked on pinterest (of course) for some picture ideas and dad decided to jump in on this one. I love this man so much - he can make me laugh just about harder than anyone. So thankful for him and the wonderful dad and Poppa that he is to his grandchildren!

It has been such a wonderful month with our precious boy. We could not be more in love with him! This is such a special time of the year and it is our prayer that even from 5 months of age, Watson will know and believe that Christmas time is not about Santa or gifts or Christmas trees, but about the miracle birth and precious gift of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We hope that you and your family have a joy filled Christmas and a very happy new year!

Merry Christmas!

Four months...

This month has brought so many changes in our precious little boy - he is growing up so much, I can't believe it! He is incredibly alert and aware these days - he always seems to keep a close eye on me...probably because I'm always singing and dancing for him?! Hey...I'll do anything to see that big gummy smile :)

W got an A+ at his 4 month check up...

Weight: 15lbs, 9 oz
Height: 25in (though she said there was some discretion here in the way this was measured because he has definitely grown more than 1in in the past 2 months)
Size diaper: 2
Size clothes: 3-6 mos
Eating: 6oz 4-5 times a day
Sleeping: 10-12 hours at night with an occasional middle of the night bottle, napping 2-3 times a day...W is very consistent with is morning and midday nap (though the length varies), but his late afternoon nap is hit or miss. Sometimes he can't stay awake, other times he is wide awake. Still, though, he is sleeping great at night so I'll take it! Daylight Savings was quite the adjustment for us...for a good couple of weeks he was waking up at 4 or 5 pretty confused whether he wanted to go back to sleep or not. That has finally worked itself out!

We stopped swaddling at 3 1/2 months and transitioned in to the sleep sack. Such a big boy! It was a pretty rough transition, but he loves having his arms free now. For whatever reason, this was so hard for me to take him out of the swaddle...I feel like that was the first big change from the newborn stage to infancy!


W babbles, laughs and smiles all day...he is the most content baby which Graham and I are incredibly thankful for. He has started doing some full out belly laughs which is precious :) We love to sing and dance...it pretty much guarantees smiles and laughs...from both of us!

He has been working so hard on rolling over...he usually lands on his side. He did, however, right before he turned 4 months, roll from his tummy to his back. He is also rolling over from his back to his tummy, but cannot quite figure out what to do with his shoulder once he is over...I have a feeling he will figure it out soon!

I love to watch him play with little rattles and toys now. He is so active when playing on his play mat and in his swing. What used to be a place to where he would sleep is now a place where he plays with the mobile the whole time with an occasional nap. We are trying to get used to napping in the crib, though...so I've tried to get him out of the swing before he falls asleep.

We pulled out the Bumbo seat for the first time and Watson was not sure what to think! He has pretty good head control but is still a little wobbly after a while, so he can only sit it in for a few minutes at a time.

Halloween was in Watsons fourth month as well. He was the cutest pumpkin in the world :) We stayed at home to pass out candy on Halloween night, but he did get to dress up for the trick-or-treat party at Student Life. I cannot believe I actually had a child in this parade this year...after sitting through it for 3 years I was now walking around with my own baby...so crazy!

Of all the things Watson enjoys right now, I think his absolute favorite is chewing on his hands... this boy LOVES to have his hands in his mouth. In fact, he will put anything he can get his hands on into his mouth. We already see that we are going to have to be extremely careful of anything sitting around the house that he can reach!!

It has been a wonderful month. Graham and I always say that we never knew our hearts could love like this. What an incredible blessing and joy it is to be a parent. We praise God for putting Watson, His child, in to our family and in to our responsibility. May He guide us daily as we strive to be examples of Him to our sweet boy!


This month, on November 8, Graham and I were able to celebrate our 3 year anniversary. I am beyond thankful for Graham and the incredible husband, father, and man of God that he is. The way that he loves, provides for, and takes care of me and Watson is something that I appreciate more than he will ever know. It has been a wonderful three years...I look forward to many, many, many more!

Paleo...

Graham and I have turned a new leaf: eating healthy at home. We never ate all that unhealthy, but there was much more processed food in the pantry/fridge than veggies and fruit. So now, a common term around the house is Paleo. This diet consists of lean meats, veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds...pretty much lots of protein and no dairy, carbs, or gluten. Gluten is already out of the picture for our meals, so all we had to cut out was dairy and carbs. Now before I go any further, let me explain that we are not adhering strictly to the Paleo diet at all times...we still eat out normal meals where we get plenty of carbs and dairy, but thought we could make a small change by just eating healthy at home and then making wise choices when eating out. This pretty much means I spend much more time in the produce section of the grocery store, rather than the chip/cracker/pasta aisle. So far every meal has been a success! Our taste buds are being stretched, but so far so good! Below are some of the meals I have made so far. If you are like my sister who wants to throw up every time I tell her what I am making for dinner (I blame that on her pregnancy, though!)...just trust me...the meals have really been good!

Sun-dried tomato chicken bake...Chicken breasts, sun-dried tomatoes with the seasoned oil, garlic, seasonings

Cauliflower rice...Cauliflower, celery, onion and seasonings sauteed in olive oil

Collard greens...Greens, red pepper flakes, garlic, olive oil

Portabella-Chicken sandwich with baked sweet potato chips

Stuffed zucchini and squash...ground beef, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, seasonings, zucchini

Roasted garlic brussels sprouts

There are many good websites out there with Paleo recipes - some of the recipes are a little too out there for us, but you can usually find some good ones mixed in! Here are the sites I have been using:

- www.paleodietlifestyle.com
- www.thecookingphotographer.com
- www.elanaspantry.com
- www.everydaypaleo.com
- www.multiplydelicious.com

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Three months...

Wow, I cannot believe that Watson is already three months old! Time is flying by and our precious buddy is growing so fast! We have had a wonderful month. I feel so incredibly blessed to stay at home every day with Watson - being a mommy is definitely a full-time job, but the best in the world!

I don't have weight/height stats for this month because our next appointment is not until 4 months, but little man has definitely grown!

Size diaper: 1
Eating: 4-6 oz 4-5 times a day
Sleeping: 9-11 hours at night, napping about 3 times a day for 1-2 hours (if and when deciding to nap...) Still swaddling at night (though he is breaking free of them almost every morning)
Size clothes: 0-3 months, 3 months, and some 3-6 months

Here are some pictures from the past month...

My favorite moment of each day is getting Watson up in the morning. He always flashes a huge smile and kicks his legs like he is so excited when he sees us in the morning! As I said above, he is really beginning to break out of the swaddle (as you can see below...) Still trying to figure out what to do with this because he definitely sleeps best while swaddled. For anyone who may be looking for a swaddle, I HIGHLY recommend the Miracle Blanket. Watson loves it - he will not fall asleep in any of the other kind!

On Graham's birthday we went for a family hike at Moss Rock Preserve. The weather was beautiful and Watson loved it! I bought this Baby Bjorn carrier this past month and it has been incredibly useful already!

Watson does great during tummy time for about 3 minutes, then it is all screams from there! He can hold is head up for a good amount of time and is pushing up really well on his arms. He is trying so hard to roll over...his little legs are about there, but his upper body is still pretty stationary. I have a feeling it will happen soon, though!

Both Great-Grandfathers were able to spend some time with Watson this month. This is precious time for me as I know how rare it can be for someone to meet two of their great-grandfathers!

Still loving the swing - though we are transitioning from napping in the swing to in the crib. I can't blame him for wanting to sleep here though...look how cozy he is!

The 21st was also Graham's 30th birthday! We had such a fun day celebrating Graham and the incredible husband and father that he is to me and Watson. The night of his birthday we went to eat at Melting Pot - this was our fist time there and we both loved it! Thanks so much to my mom for keeping Watson so Graham and I could have a date night!

Still such a mama's boy...and I wouldn't have it any other way :)

Our little angel, Abby, turned 2 last weekend! We had a blast at the park for her birthday party!

Two months...

I absolutely love watching Watson grow and develop his little personality more and more every day! It is amazing how much he changes from week to week!

At two months Watson is...

Smiling all the time! He is especially smiley in the morning when he wakes up. There is nothing better than seeing his sweet smiles first thing in the morning!

Still loving the car seat...as long as it is moving :) We go on walks every day which he loves. He usually sleeps through them, but sometimes stays awake to look around. Either way he seems very content!

All about some mommy-time! When I found out I was having a boy, everyone told me that there is nothing quite like the way a little boy loves his mommy. I am seeing that more and more everyday...and loving every second of it :)

I would say Watson smiles most with Graham. He absolutely loves his daddy, and I love watching them together! It melts my heart to be in another room and hear the conversations that Graham has with Watson...nothing sweeter than that :)
Cooing all the time. I LOVE to hear him "talk" all day! He will lay on his play mat and coo and smile for forever..he loves it! (When he is on his back..still not so much a fan of tummy-time, but doing great at holding that head up regardless!)

Loving being read to every day. He will lay there and stare at the pictures and coo and smile as I read to him. Such sweet times in the mornings :)

Sleeping great! Watson sleeps anywhere from 8-10 hours a night. We are truly blessed with a great sleeper! For about the last two weeks he has decided that he is not interested in napping...which calls for some pretty fussy and overtired afternoons for him...but with as great as he is sleeping at night, we'll deal with the fussy afternoons! When he decides to, he will take about 3 naps that are 1-2 hours each day.

Two month stats:
Weight: 12lbs, 8 oz
Height: 24in
Size diaper: 1
Eating: 3-5 oz 5-6 times a day
Sleeping: 8-10 hours at night (most nights...still an occasional night of waking up once in the middle of the night), napping about 3 times a day for 1-2 hours (if and when deciding to nap...)
Size clothes: 0-3 months

One Month...

This post is a little late...in fact, Watson will be two months old in two weeks, but hey...at least I'm posting this before then, right?!

What a month it has been! Our sweet baby boy is growing like a weed and is bringing more and more joy to our lives every day. I absolutely adore him and cannot imagine life without his precious presence in our family! Our family has been through a lot in this first month, but I trust and pray that it has only grown us stronger and am honestly thankful for all that the Lord taught me through everything. Let me catch you all up.... (this is going to be LONG...I am including details for my own record)

Six days after Watson was born, we noticed three small abscesses on him that we decided to watch over the next 24 hours or so before calling the doctor to make sure it was not a type of diaper rash. The next morning, they had grown significantly, so I called our pediatrician and they had me bring him in. They were able to drain the sites, send them off to be cultured, and send us home with some cream to apply three times a day. Later that night I received a phone call from the doctor saying that his cultures had tested positive for MRSA. The only thing they could think, due to its location, is that he somehow acquired this form of a staph infection during his circumcision. After talking with the doctor I did what a newly postpartum mom should NEVER do...I got on google. Well, if you google newborns and MRSA the one recurring word that continued to stick out in everything I read was "fatal." It makes me feel sick again just typing that. We prayed. And we prayed. And we prayed some more, that God would heal these spots and the MRSA would not get into Watson's bloodstream. The spots quickly disappeared with the cream. However, that Saturday night, as I was changing his diaper, I noticed that one of the spots looked like it was coming back so I called the on-call pediatrician. They said to watch him over the weekend and come in to the office first thing Monday morning. I felt better that they did not seem too concerned. Fifteen minutes later, my phone rings with another doctor on the other end of the line saying that a couple of the pediatricians had consulted one another and I needed to take Watson straight in to the emergency room at Children's Hospital. Again, NOTHING that a newly postpartum mom needs to hear. I was a wreck. Since Watson was only 9 days old at this time, the last place I wanted to take him was a hospital. My mom and dad went ahead of us to make sure that we could go straight back and not have to sit in the waiting room. Once we got there, we were thankfully sent straight to triage and in to a room. While we were in triage I ran in to a friend of mine from high school who is a nurse at Children's. Though we had lost touch over the years, she had seen on facebook that I had named my son Watson and then saw "Watson Hill" on the ER board and put it together that I would be coming in. I am so thankful she was there - seeing a sweet, familiar face at that time was exactly what I needed to help calm me down. I love how God works! We saw two doctors while we were there. The first said we were good to go home (the spot had disappeared by this point as well, thank the Lord!) so we got all ready to go home. The second doctor came in and said that she wanted to keep him for at least 48 hours and they would have to do their routine tests for a newborn...which included a spinal tap. I could not even let my mind go to thinking about my 9 day old son having to go through that. Both of those doctors then consulted a third doctor who thankfully agreed with the first that we could go home as long as we followed up with our pediatrician on Monday. Praise God, the spots are gone and we have not seen any sign of them since that night! Watson never had any fever, fussiness, lack of appetite, lack of sleep..anything that would be sign of an infection. The Lord is good!!! The whole time he was going through this I continued to say and think, "I wish I could take this from him...I would do anything to take this from him." I meant that with all of my heart, and it is a good thing that I truly did mean it because...

The same day that we originally took Watson in to the doctor for his abscesses, I started feeling really sick. I thought I was just extremely tired from getting up with a newborn all night, but I knew when we got home from the doctor that there was more to it. I was achy all over like I had the flu, I felt like I was going to fall out at any second, and my fever was quickly going up to 100...101...102... My mom was still at my house, thankfully, so she and Graham sent me to bed while they took care of Watson and called my OB doctor. Putting it all together, I had a classic case of mastitis. I cannot even begin to explain to you the pain that comes with mastitis! My doctor called me in some antibiotics and said that should take care of everything. Ten painful days later, my prescription was up and I was still not any better. I called the doctor again and they put me on another round of the same medicine saying that sometimes it takes two rounds to knock it out. I had a few days of relief, but nine days in to the second round of meds, I began feeling the same way as before...achy, extremely tired, my entire chest had changed from bright red to purple at this point and my fever was 102.7...so we called the doctor again. Of course, it was a weekend (I only get sick on weekends. Convenient.) The on-call OB sent me to the ER at St. Vincents. My OB called while I was getting ready to go to see what all was going on and warned me that I would probably be admitted. She was right. Turns out I was resistant to the antibiotics that they had given me for mastitis because I was now infected with MRSA. We guess since I was breastfeeding Watson while he was sick, I contracted it from him and it showed up in the form of MRSA and Mastitis. I was in the hospital for four days with heavy IV meds given four times a day. I cannot describe the pain I felt from being away from Watson during those days. I can say, though, that I have never been more thankful for Graham and the incredible husband and dad that he is. He stayed at the hospital taking care of me, while my family kept Watson. Knowing that he was in good hands made it somewhat bearable for me to be away, but thankfully I had sweet nurses who understood my incredibly emotional state of mind while in the hospital! On the fourth day of being in the hospital, the doctor said I could go home but I would have to get a PICC line put in (a line that runs from my arm to right above my heart) and I would have a home health care service set me up with IV meds at home that would be administered twice a day. Not ideal, but at that point I just wanted to hold my baby. Given that I was incredibly weak...and still very sick...my mom moved back in with us to help take care of me while Graham and I took care of Watson. I was on the IV's at home for twelve days when my PICC line clotted, sending us back in the ER. Luckily, we did not have to stay overnight and were able to come home. At this point my OB said that I was no longer able to breastfeed and needed to go ahead and let my milk dry up so that we could distinguish between MRSA and mastitis. Having to stop breastfeeding and switch to formula was incredibly difficult for me. I had always envisioned breastfeeding Watson for the first year. God, however, had other plans and I have to trust in Him and know that His ways are perfect. Two days later, my fever spiked again to 102.3. When this happened, Graham was on his way to Atlanta for the wedding of two of our best friends, my parents were in Chicago for an anniversary trip, my sister and her family were at the lake, and it was just me and Watson at our house. I called my OB and Infectious Disease doctors (both of which had been keeping tabs on me since my first time in the hospital) and they both said I needed to go back in to the ER. Thankfully, my mother in law had come in town a few days before to help us during the nights, so she came over to take care of Watson while my aunt took me back to the hospital. Though they are not exactly sure what caused my fever to spike while on such heavy medicines, they suspect that I was having a drug fever and/or an infection in my PICC line. They switched my meds while in the hospital, but eventually decided to take me off all of the medicines, take my PICC line out, and monitor me for 24 more hours to see what happened. Three days later, I was able to come home...medicine free, PICC line free, and hopefully infection free!

I have now been home for a little over a week, and other than a few remaining side effects from the meds they had me on, I am feeling MUCH better and gaining more strength with each new day. I pray that this is the end of that crazy road and that we can now focus all of our attention and strength on our precious little boy!

So, needless to say, our first couple months of parenthood looked quite different than we ever expected, but as I said before, we trust that we are stronger from it all! Even though we are beyond exhausted...as all new parents are...we are incredibly thankful to be home and be able to wake up in the middle of the night with Watson. Those are such special bonding moments that we would not trade for anything!

Speaking of our precious boy, let's now focus on him :) Watson is an incredibly easy baby so far! He really only fusses when he is hungry...and boy does he let us (and all of our neighbors) know he is hungry! He LOVES to cuddle and be held by everyone, but especially his mommy :) He would be perfectly content in my arms all day long! The swing has been a huge help as it always works to calm him down as well. We did tummy time a little during his first month, but mainly starting at 4 weeks. He seems to be a very strong baby as he loves to hold his head and neck up while being held on his stomach or on someones shoulder. He sleeps very well for his age. We are trying to do Baby Wise, so we put him down at 7 and he typically sleeps for about 3 1/2 - 4 hour increments at night, and eats about every 2 1/2 - 3 hours during the day. At his one month appointment, he weighed 9lbs 12 oz (50%), his head was 15" (50%), and he was 22 3/4" long (90%). Looks like we have a tall, skinny boy on our hands! He got a big A+ at his appointment! He is having some acid reflux issues, though, so our pediatrician put him on some medicine for that which seems to be helping some, but not as much as I would like. We will re-evaluate that medicine at his two month appointment...in two weeks... :)

This precious boy is a JOY and and BLESSING to me and his daddy...we love him so very, very much!!

Tummy time...sometimes turns in to sleep time :)

This boy LOVES riding in the car. He instantly falls asleep when the car starts moving.

He is a miniature Graham - it is scary how much they look alike!!

First real bath :)

We get this concerned expression a lot!

Watson's nursery

And for some more exciting news.....this precious girl is going to have a little BROTHER in February!!! We cannot wait to welcome another boy to the family! :)