Where do I start?

I've tried, on numerous, occasions to update this blog.  I think it goes without saying that trying to catch up on over SIX MONTHS of my son's life is just entirely too daunting of a task.  So, today, I've decided to keep it simple and do a 5 minute update.  One of the blogs I follow stole the idea from another blog - you get the idea, and I decided this would be the perfect acceptable way of jump starting blogging again.  Now maybe I can wrap my head around blogging more often.

5 minutes of writing.  Ready, set, go.

The last 6 months have been so many things.  Amazing, wonderful, exhausting, overwhelming, life-changing, terrifying, and magical.  It is truly impossible to explain to an expectant parent just how much their life is about to change.  I feel like there has been no stone left unturned in how my life has been changed.  I am at the same time the exact same person and a completely different person.  I cannot tell you how many times I have apologized in my head for judging the way others have parented.  'Cause guess what?  I've ended up doing many of the same things that I thought were just oh so terrible before I was a parent.  It's called survival.  It's also called taking a chill pill.

I have learned that though spending time with my son and husband is beyond my most favorite thing in the world, it is absolutely imperative that I spend time alone as well.  Work is finally becoming something I don't completely resent.  That was hard.  I was home for 4 months, and it took almost just as long to even kind of enjoy getting up and coming into work.  I wouldn't say I love it just yet, but I see value in what I'm doing and I also see a lot of value in Collin spending time with someone else during the day and playing with another little boy all day long.  He truly enjoys his time with Hannah and Jake, but  he also loves even more when his mama comes home. :)

Collin is the most amazingly sweet and fun kid I've ever known.  Says his mother.  He is also one incredibly determined little thing.  Many thanks to his father for that one.  When Jake (who is two months older) starts to do something, Collin almost immediately begins to imitate him.  I can now literally see him trying to figure out how to take his first steps.  It is the most precious thing ever.

5 minutes up!

So there you  have it.  A five minute download of the last 6 months.  Don't worry, I have kept notes of all the things that have happened and plan to make him a beautiful baby book one day, but for now this blog is considered up to date, and maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to update it more regularly with our daily happenings. :)

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I have a 2 month old?

It occurred to me the other day that I had better get on it before I have to title this post I have a THREE month old....oops.  Time has kind of gotten away from me.  There are just so many pictures and stories since he was born that I sometimes get overwhelmed with trying to write it all down and decide to do something other than blog.  No more excuses though - I'm going to start forgetting all of this stuff and then regret not having written it down.  So here goes.

The first few weeks home with Collin were actually really great.  Sure, there wasn't a whole lot of sleep and there were our fair share of "WHAT ARE WE DOING?" moments.  One moment in particular sticks out: Collin was about 2.5 weeks old and had started sleeping in his own room already.  At that time, he still had a really hard time going to sleep at night.  He slept well once asleep, but getting to that point was often quite a struggle.  We had heard so many contradictory thoughts on how to get your child to sleep that at one point, Bryan was frantically looking through a book we had while I googled what to do.  Nothing screams new parent like trying to figure out how to get your child to stop crying!  Thankfully that stage was very short lived and he now goes to sleep and stays asleep quite well.

From the beginning, Collin has been an incredibly sweet and cuddly baby.  He would always put his little hands under his head when he would sleep on your chest, and always nuzzled in.  He is still just as sweet and cuddly, but he appreciates being a bit more independent.  There is nothing that makes my heart swell more than seeing him smile!!  He's even started laughing which is pretty much the best thing in the world.  I've heard so many parents say it before, and it is SO TRUE:  Every stage is your favorite until you get to the next one.  When he was first born, (and the hormones were RAGING) I thought I would just not be able to make it when the newborn stage was over and my little baby started growing up.  What I didn't realize was just how rewarding that growing up is.  To see him smile, laugh, or find your voice for the first time is truly the best.  Now, allow me to overload you with pictures.  :)

Meeting some of mommy's friends from work.

Decatur Arts Festival with the Andersons.

Braving our first almost full day out with the little guy!

First hike at 3 weeks old!

First trip to the farmer's market!

Morning snuggles with family.

His cousin David even got a chance to hold him. :)

All of the family after some delicious BBQ.

Recreating a picture of Bryan holding David as a baby....

A very content baby.

Enjoying his first photo shoot.

He's becoming much more alert and active - and he loves his playmat!

And he loves bath time.  We enjoy giving him different bubble hairstyles. :)

First Braves game!

He did such a great job during the whole game.

Donuts for Mommy's birthday. 

Okay, so now we're a bit more caught up and I'll do my very best to post more often.  Though this post did take me 4 days to actually finish. . .

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Collin Andrew Stillwagon

He's here!!!  Collin Andrew was born on May 7, 2013 (his daddy's 29th birthday) at 5:33am.  An 8lb 8.5oz, 21in long bundle of perfection!  The past few weeks have been filled with snuggles, tired eyes, dirty diapers, lots of feedings, and the most amazing time of bonding we could have imagined.  I plan on posting later this week with more details of the month.  That's right, he'll be a month old on Friday!!!  What's that? Time flies?  Right.   Until then, here are some pictures to hold everyone over.

One last belly shot.

We were surrounded by sweet friends who gave up their Monday evening to be with us.  Collin took his time though, so some work had to be done. :) 

Elizabeth and Kirsten are also expecting their first little ones just 4 and 6 months after us!

The family waiting patiently. 

I love this picture - he looks like he's showing off for being such a big baby. :) 

After 19 hours of labor I was starving.  A chicken biscuit hit the spot! 

First family photo!

Perfection

And we're home!!! 

That profile - can't get enough of it! 

First Mother's Day!

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38 weeks

38 weeks brought about little Williams' first birthday!  We had so much fun at his birthday party and felt honored to be a part of it.  It has been such fun watching him grow up this past year, especially knowing for most of it that our little one will be almost exactly one year behind him.  So seeing what kind of developmental stage he was at for all the year's big events has been really fun for us.  We can't wait for our little guy to meet him and his dads.  Such a blessing.

I felt pretty good for the week!  Over the weekend I was having some headaches and decided to call my dr Monday morning about them.  I knew it could be a sign of pre-eclampsia and though I've had no hint of high blood pressure in the past, it's better to be safe than sorry.  So Monday morning they had me come in just to run a few tests and all was great.  I even got to hear the baby's heart beat again - which is always a treat!  I had my regularaly scheduled appointment on Wednesday and the doctor said though I was showing more progress than a lot of first time mom's (meaning I'm showing any progress at all) she expected that I would be in for my 40 week appointment.  So we wait. :)  Other than the headaches, I'd say my other symptoms are on track for nearing my due date.  I don't sleep so great, have lots of Braxton Hicks, and general pressure/uncomfortableness.  Really nothing I can complain about though - I feel pretty fortunate to still be up and about and enjoying these last few weeks just me and Bryan.

One really nice thing that started at 38 weeks was I am now officially working from home.  Not having to get up and find something to wear to work every morning that still fits is such a treat!  I don't have a whole lot going on at work right now, which is especially nice because I can get stuff done around the house and go on some long walks during the day.

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Nursery!!

We've been working diligently for the last few months on turning the nursery from a guest room into a cozy little nursery.  We're very happy with how it turned out!!  We wanted something with a bit of a vintage feel - not overly kiddy and typical for a nursery.  We definitely learned why people normally go with the standard stuff for nurseries b/c boy did it make it more difficult to find everything we wanted.  At the end of the day though, it was totally worth it!  Here's our vintage travel themed nursery!

BEFORE:
We didn't think fast enough to get pics before we moved out all the guest room furniture, but you get the idea. :)

AFTER: 

This was a gift from our couple's baby shower.  Everyone made clouds with their fingerprints and wrote notes to the baby.  We absolutely loved it and I love that I can look at it everyday now! ;)

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37 weeks - FULL TERM!

What a huge relief it is to be full term!!!!!  I don't think I realized how much anxiety I had over him coming too early.  It's hard to avoid when you have at least 5 strangers telling you on a daily basis that the baby is going to come early!  Now I know that he can come anytime and be healthy - what a great feeling! :)  We spent this past weekend enjoying each other.  We've had this weekend blocked off on the calendar for quite a while now.  We wanted to have no plans - just be spontaneous and spend time together.  So we did just that.  Saturday we ran some errands, went on a very long walk and ended up at a friend's house who was having a porch party, then had a spontaneous dinner at one of our favorite Atlanta restaurants, JCT Kitchen.  We had a little table up on the roof - it was perfect!  Sunday we did a lot of work in the yard.  I even helped and planted some flowers!  Bryan did the rest....so pretty much everything!  I so appreciated everything he did in the yard - it looks really great now.

We also finished a few things in the nursery, and I hope to share pictures soon.  It's very close to being completely ready, and we are so happy with every detail in it!  

So now we wait.  We happily wait for his arrival.  We'll be patient until he's ready, but we'll be so thrilled whenever he decides to make his debut. :)

Let's see how far we've come, shall we? 

 

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35 & 36 weeks

Let the sleepless nights begin!  Sunday morning (at 35 weeks) I woke up at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep.  I had too much running through my mind.  So I laid in bed for an hour hoping it would pass, and then at 4 decided to just get up and get some things done.  So I cleaned the kitchen and then started marking some other things off the baby to-do list. Bryan woke up around 6 and came looking for me - pretty sure he thought I'd lost my mind.  He's probably right. :)

36 weeks was good! We headed to Athens with the Whitworths and some other friends to see the big Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan concert at Sanford Stadium.  We bought the tickets months ago, and to be honest, at the time I wasn't sure if we'd make it or not.  I certainly envisioned that I would be feeling pretty crummy at 36 weeks, but we figured we'd give it a shot and could sell the tickets if we needed to.  I felt especially fortunate that I was feeling great enough to not only go to the concert, but we also tailgated beforehand.  Granted, I had to sit down a lot more during the concert than I would have preferred, but it was really fun to be there and we had a great time!!!

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