February...that was fast!

Well, it is March 1st, and I just realized I haven't posted anything since January.  February is a short month by design, but this one seemed to go by more quickly than usual.  We celebrated our second Valentine's Day with Zeke after taking our first trip away as a couple since before he was born!  We went to Callaway Gardens for the couple's retreat our church hosted.  We had a great time, but missed our sweet boy!

Wynna stayed with him, so he didn't miss us at all!  We are so thankful for the time Zeke gets with his Wynna!  As you can see below, the feeling is mutual!

When we got home, he was excited to see his Daddy and spent some time hanging out with him on the couch!

The next day was Valentine's Day so I made a special breakfast for Gregg (Zeke will get something like this next year since he's currently still eating mush!).  Zeke and I were at home together as usual, but I snapped a few photos of him in his Valentine's Day shirt.  It says, "I heart Mommy!"  I wonder how long I will get to dress him in whatever I want!


Gregg's breakfast





"Helping" Mommy do laundry!

Before the month came to a close, we were able to attend Luke Jordan's first birthday party.  His mommy, Dena, and I have been able to share a lot of the same experiences as our boys have grown over the last year.  She and I have very similar view points on nutrition, health, scheduling, and most importantly, we share a faith in the Lord!  I am so thankful to have them in our lives!

Zeke will be 14 months old in a couple of weeks.  He's not walking on his own yet, but has learned to crawl onto his firetruck to take a ride.  He loves to stand and push anything that is not bolted down to the ground, so I have a feeling he will surprise us with his first steps before we know it!  He continues to be the smiley happy boy whom we are thankful for.  He has said "Uh-oh" with meaning and we think he says "Dada" in reference to Gregg now, but that is all so far.  We know it will happen in time!  He loves to play and laugh and enjoys people.  Oh, and he LOVES to play with Sadie cat, but she doesn't necessarily love to play with him!

Look how far we've come...

This week has been rather unusual in the sense that 6 of my friends have delivered baby boys in the last 5 days!  This caused Gregg and me to take a look back at our first days with Zeke, and see how far we've come.  That first night in the hospital we were overwhelmed with a baby that wouldn't stop crying.  We didn't know what to do, and we just wanted to get some sleep.  An amazing nurse took him for several hours so we could sleep. 

We woke up somewhat refreshed and determined to implement Dr. Denmark's schedule as quickly as possible.  We did a modified version, nursing Zeke at 2am, 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm, and 10pm for the first couple of weeks.  At 2 weeks we dropped the 2am feeding and put him to sleep in his room.  We also chose to sleep him on his tummy from the very beginning.  We had to place him on his side in the hospital because of their rules about sleeping babies on their backs.  We trust Dr. Denmark and all of the mothers who have followed her recommendations for generations.  We prayed about these issues and were confident that we had made the right decision.  We have decided to go "against the grain" in regards to a lot of our parenting decisions, and I have a feeling that will not change as he gets older!

Now that Zeke is 1 year old, we continue to follow a structured schedule, and he is thriving.  We look at our friends who are beginning this journey with newborns and pray that they would trust their instincts and enjoy this time with their newborn babies.

I recently received the final set of "milestone" portraits from Summer Adams, our photographer.  We documented Zeke at 4, 8, and 12 months for these sessions.  Here is a look at the photos from the beginning until now....Enjoy!

Four Months Old:

Eight Months Old:

One Year Old:



"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another." (John 1:16)

We count Zeke as one of the greatest blessings of our lives.  What a year!!!

Zeke's First Birthday Party

We celebrated Zeke's first birthday with friends and family at Gymboree Play & Music in Kennesaw, GA on January 22, 2011.  I decided I wanted to do a camouflage/baby woodland animals theme, to go along with Zeke's nursery (and his daddy's interests!).  The party was scheduled to begin at 4:30pm, so we had the day at home...just the three of us.  Zeke took a long nap to get ready for the afternoon of fun!

I did several things to prepare for the celebration.  I had been working on perfecting a spice cake/cupcake recipe that was gluten free and had no processed sugar.  I also found a cream cheese frosting recipe made with honey.  Teresa (Auntie Tessa) came over the Friday before the party to help me make the cupcakes and spend some time with the birthday boy.  The muffins did not turn out very pretty, but after Teresa and I both "tested" them, we decided they were yummy, so it didn't matter how they looked!



The spread (my cupcakes on the right)

My mom got Zeke a cake from Whole Foods that I had ordered in case the guests were afraid of my healthy creation!  I ordered a sign that we will use each year that says, "Happy Birthday Zeke," and has a baby deer on the front. 

Woodland cake with a baby bear in the right corner

We also had Chickadee Chickadee (one of my friend's children's clothing company) make a personalized t-shirt with a "1" on the front and "Zeke" on the back. 

I ordered Hershey bar wrappers that said "Happy First Birthday, Zeke."  Where the ingredients would typically be listed, it said, "Thank you for joining us to celebrate the sweetest addition to our family."  My mom also found camo bouncy balls, pencils, and pads of paper to put in little camo baggies as favors for the children. This may all seem a bit excessive, but your first child only turns one once, and I decided to go all out.  It's funny because before I had him, Gregg and I decided we'd do a simple first birthday.  I guess that went out the window...haha!


Favors!

The party was a lot of fun.  The teacher led the kids in activities and songs.  She was full of energy and did a fantastic job.  I certainly couldn't have done it!  Here are a few photos of the kids playing:

Granddaddy had just arrived!



My mom really helped make everything run smoothly!

After the activities, we headed to the front room for cake.  We all sang "Happy Birthday" to Zeke and he looked around confused.  I'm sure he was wondering why everyone was singing and staring at him!  Kariss helped him blow out his candle, then we gave him his cupcake.  Because we follow Dr. Denmark's eating and scheduling guidelines, Zeke still eats pureed foods (or mush as we call it).  He's not used to a lot of texture, so he didn't really know what to do with the cupcake.  He thought it was something to play with, not eat.  He ended up eating mush instead!



Kariss was a great helper!



Ahh..mush!

Overall, it was a great day of fun and celebration.  It is hard to believe that it has been a year and I know each year will continue to pass in the blink of an eye.  That is one reason I chose to write this blog.  I want to look back at these times in our life and remember the details that so easily slip away.

Happy Birthday, Zeke!!!

Thank you to all of our family and friends who have prayed for us and continue to do so.  We count you all as blessings!