road trips, carrots, and bunny suits.

Why is it that weekends are always over way too quickly? Waaah. 

Well, at least this weekend was uber fun for us on this end! We decided to trek up to Manistee, MI for the day on Saturday to visit with my family.  My sister, Lauren, drove from New Hudson to be there as well.  With her were her three munchkins, my brother Kevin and his girlfriend, their brother Justin, Lauren also brought her new beau, plus their sister stopped by for a little bit.  Oh, and we went to Manistee to see our grandparents.  So that brings it to a total, of oh... a crazy bunch. 

It was the first time everybody got to meet Aldon, and he was, of course, a big hit :)  When I was still teeny-tiny pregnant I was living with Lauren and being her nanny.  It was soooo adorable to see her kids interact with "baby sprout" and see him out of my tummy.  Sammy (who's 3) was teaching him the ropes of being a little boy and how to give knuckle bumps :) 

I've always grown up with an insanely active and large family.  Here in Big Rapids it's JUST Keegan, Aldon and I.  I worry a lot about him not knowing his relatives like I do... but I'm sure that's just a typical mom thing.  

Other exciting news from this weekend: my big baby upgraded from rice cereal to jarred baby food!! He tried his first few (and exceedingly messy) spoonfuls of carrots.  It's getting even harder and harder to imagine him being the 5 lb baby he was 4 months ago... Keegan and I were showing him all of his ultrasound pictures and pictures from his birth today and it was so precious- he kept touching the pages and staring intently at all the faces, it's amazing to watch every little thing he does :)

And, I know I'm entirely too soon on this one, but I ordered THE cutest little Easter outfit for him.  I'll just let the picture speak for itself :)

 
Now that the weekend is over it means back to the drone of school work and blah blah blah.  But at least I get to picture Aldon squeezed into that bunny suit to make it all better! :)

wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities.

I know just about every mom says this and it used to annoy me, too, until now I can say it myself: my son is just growing up way too fast.  It seems like there isn't enough time for me to fully enjoy him at each stage he is at.  This really hit me today when I saw a friend of mine's picture of him when he was I think 5 days old.  Sometimes I get so caught up in school and life and excitement about what he is going to conquer next that I forget to stop and enjoy the NOW and find some way to capture it while I can.  Which is another reason why I so wish I was good with photography. So here it is, my first (of guaranteed many) blogs dedicated to the most perfect, adorably chunky, happy, giggly, blue-eyed baby boy, Aldon Matthew!


I didn't find out I was pregnant with Aldon until I was about 2 months along.  I was living with my sister at the time- she is in the Army and was working out of Detroit while I was 2 hours away in Hastings with her 3 kids (aged 2, 3 and 4!). With how busy I was, I really had no idea anything was off until I went to the doctor's for an ear ache and, of course, they ask all the questions and then it dawned on me.  Needless to say, after peeing on several sticks just to make sure I wasn't crazy, I was pregnant.  Keegan was there with me when we took the test.  He really is the greatest ever, most 20 year olds wouldn't be able to handle all of that so calmly (I know I wasn't!).  We hadn't been dating that long (as in, just a few shorts months.  At first I wasn't looking for anything too serious right away, I just ended a long term relationship and was sort of seeing someone my sister knew from the Army, but that didn't work out) we knew there was no doubt that the baby would be with us forever.

Meanwhile, my sister decided to move her family closer to Detroit.  So, me in all my newly pregnant glory packed up and moved even father away from Keegan.  While we were living there I had my first baby doctor appointment and saw our little sprout baby (I hate when people refer to babies in the tummy as "it."  Since we didn't know boy or girl, he became Sprout baby :)).  Truly a crazy thing! I wasn't one of those saps who cried, but it definitely was something.

So time went on and I got bigger and bigger ;) In May we found out that we were having a boy.  I planned on not finding out so the tech told Keegan the sex and then kept it a secret from me.  Of course, 5 minutes later I begged him to tell me.  Right away I knew I would name him Aldon, it's a name I've always loved because it was different but not weird.  Also, one of my distant cousins has a son named Aldan (though they pronounce it differently than we do) so I kind of stole it. Keegan gave him the middle name Matthew after his father. 

I gained about 40 pounds during my pregnancy.  I was so sure I was going to have a huge chunky baby.  But, instead, on October 29 I had a tiny tiny tiny 5 lb, 12 oz little boy :) I had to be induced because my blood pressure started going up and was in active labor for about 9 hours.  I loved it.  My whole family came down to BR and so did Keegan's and we were just hanging out, waiting.  Funny (but maybe TMI) moment: the doctor had to break my water, and I was not aware that every time I had contractions after that, more fluid would gush out.  For a good hour I was thinking I was constantly peeing myself.  It felt just like it! haha.  Then, the doctor did a check to see how things were going... and felt my son's nose.  Needless to say, that isn't supposed to happen and I was sent straight to surgery to have a C-section.  I despised the thought of having a C-section.  I had such an easy pregnancy so I figured labor would be a breeze too and nothing would go wrong.  Wrong.  I had such a hard time accepting it.  I never really talked about it cause then people give you the "Oh, you should just be happy you have a healthy baby" speech.  Bullshit.  Of course I'm happy my baby is healthy, but when you have such high hopes for something for sooo long and then it works out the exact opposite, I believe you're entitled to a pity party.

Recovery was killer for the first 2 weeks.  I definitely pushed myself wayyy too hard (what else is new).  I was so upset that I wasn't technically the first person to hold my baby, plus the crazy hormones that I cried a ton.  In private.  Then there were times I could cry for no reason and be laughing at my stupid self for crying and I think poor Keegan was probably afraid of me at this point :P  I also beat myself up a lot because that first week the highlight of my day was getting out of bed, therefore I couldn't help much with a new baby.  Kinda felt like I missed out.

Moving on, though. Aldon never cried.  We thought we hit the baby lottery!  It's amazing I even showed up for class or got the stellar grades I did because every second was spent with him.  He probably got so sick of me but he can deal with it, I waited ten months to see him :) Even from birth he has been the perfect combination of Keegan and I.  It's not like looking in a mirror like people say, but it is really cool to look at your baby and see yourself and your partner.  He has my eyes (though his are still blue), and my nose when I was a baby.  The structure of his face is like his father's though.  And the facial expressions he makes perfectly match his dad's baby pictures.  My favorite part: his toes :) He has the cutest, tiniest most perfect baby toes.  I know that's such a weird thing to fixate on, but I love them :)

We get, I don't know the exact word for it I guess, discriminated? well, that's close.  We get discriminated against a lot for being young parents.  Every trip to the pediatrician's comes with some remark from the nurses about how young we are and how surprised they are at his health and development and that we're "actually" good parents.  Or that I "actually" breastfeed.  Uh duh, he's my son and regardless of my age I'm going to do everything I can to make his life the best.  I knew I was going to face hurdles like that, so while it kinda stings for the most part it just rolls off.  At the end of the day, I still have the world's cutest baby and they don't :P 

He's grown so much now.  Probably around 14 or 15 pounds by now and over 2 feet long.  It's so amazing to watch him.  Everything fascinates him! Just the other day he was staring at my face while we were playing and reached out to grab my nose.  When he touched it he squealed so loud and got the biggest grin on his face :)  He's starting to understand that the things he does have an affect on the world- like when he "talks" Keegan and I talk back and he can get a reaction out of us.  Or, how when he pulls the cat's fur the cat meows ;) His personality is totally his own. Yet it's also traits of ours.  

I've always been a worrier, but now it's extreme.  I know I can't shelter him, but the thought of him getting knocked down on the playground or missing me while he's at daycare drives me crazy.  I suppose it's a "mom" thing...

I can't imagine not having him.  He fits in so perfectly and is our entire world.  "The best thing that could have happened to me" doesn't even begin to cover how it feels to have a baby.  I love him so much I don't think I can have another.  I miss pregnancy at times, but I don't wanna share my love with another baby.  I swear there can't be enough in the world after all I've given to him :)

My little cutie patootie just woke up from his (short-lived) nap, so I'll end this novel with a thought:

A new baby is like the beginning of all things- wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities. --Eda J. Le Shan

 

 

perfection.

Today has quite possibly been one of the most perfect days ever.  Ferris canceled classes so I got my first snow day since high school :) Since Aldon is already scheduled to go to daycare we dropped him off despite being home all day and just enjoyed the "mommy-daddy time" lazing around doing homework.  Don't get me wrong- I love my son more than life itself, but days like today were totally essential I believe.  I also love going to the center and seeing my baby man "playing" with all of his "friends" :)

That being said, I really need to kick my butt into the habit of taking more pictures of him.  I'm such a horrible photographer and would really love to have professional-esque photos of him taken, but he's so little that getting him to pay attention to anything for more than 2.5 seconds is next to impossible. So if anyone has any tips for how I can create a cute photo sesh at home- please share!! He's getting so unbelievably big now (I know, I know, that's what babies do...)... 3 months old. wow. 

With him growing bigger every day my to-do list grows as well- I have a mountain of totes of baby clothes in our basement to sort through to determine what can be donated to other families with little baby boys (again, if anybody knows someone who needs/wants some- do tell!!). I swear 90% of the newborn through 0-3 mo. clothes he has that don't fit anymore he has never even worn. I might have been a little bit of a baby shop-a-holic. Woops!

It seems like every day Keegan and I get asked when we are having another.  And to be honest, I don't see how I could have enough love to give another baby.  Aldon is my everything.  But I do miss being pregnant at times- I had such an easy pregnancy.  So the though of being a surrogate mom has crossed my mind a few times. Just a thought.

Well, Aldon is waking up from one of his two-point-five second carseat naps so I'll end this train of thoughts. Time to go curl up with my boys and watch some movies and continue this blissful day :)

 

oh the weather outside is blog-full.

why hello all.

currently i'm perfectly ensconced in a giant snowball thanks be to michigan weather, so i decided creating a blog would be supreme.

who am i, you ask?
i fill many roles- diligent college student, girlfriend to an amazing boyfriend, daughter to the best parents anyone could ask for, sister to seven siblings, aunt to seven nieces and nephews, loyal friend to those who have stuck with me in life, owner of the most eclectic kitty, and most importantly (and recently): mommy to quite possibly the cutest and most precious baby boy :)

my life is full of opposites. hectic yet boring. spontaneous yet routine. you get the drift. but it's my life. and i love every second of it. hope you enjoy :)

my entire world summed up in one photo. love.