Christmas pictures from our baby's first!

Relaxing after a long day.
Gimme that camera!

Hi Mama!
Nathan's new walking toy from Grandma.
Sitting up all by himself.
Playing with Daddy!
Mama's lazy boy!

Family picture
Nathan and Daddy
He loves his new toys!
Awwwwww
Loves to read already!

Mama's old college buddies!
Great-Grandpa Stan and the gang
Grandma and Grandpa with Nathan and Will.
Nathan loves Grandma!
Nathan and Great-Grandma!

We see another tooth!

When it rains it pours. Poor Nathan has cut his second tooth. We are really hoping things slow down a little bit for him now.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Nathan's first Christmas is finally here!

We went to see Grandma Kay and Grandpa John this past weekend. We had a very nice visit and received lots of nice presents. Nathan's favorite is his little barn with farm animals. Too cute!

Lots more places to go and people to see. Pictures coming soon!

Nathan and Santa!

Grandma and I took Nathan to see Santa today! He didn't cry at all! Although we couldn't get him to smile to save our lives. What you don't see in this picture is my mom and I jumping around behind the photographer like crazy people. Oh well!

We see a tooth!

My sweet boy has his first tooth! Poor little guy has been in some pain. Hopefully it gets better soon.

Letter to my seven month old boy...

Dear Nathan,

Today you are seven months old!! This is such a bittersweet day for mama. One year ago today was Noel's due date. Although I know now that she just wasn't meant to come to us yet. I really think that you wanted to be first. And I can't imagine not having you in my life.

You have grown so much! You are still around 21 pounds but I know that you are growing taller. You can sit up for much longer periods of time before falling over. You just get distracted by something behind you and try to reach for it. Mama has learned to surround you with pillows! You have became increasingly frustrated with crawling. You are getting so close! Mama and Daddy work with you every day to try to help you. You will get it soon! This past month has been full of adventures! We took a car trip to Chicago with Daddy. You did so well in the car. Although Mama had to prop herself over the carseat to nurse you while we were driving! That was a funny sight to see. You also had your first Thanksgiving! This month will be equally busy with Christmas coming up. We have so many places to go and people to see. I am sure that you will do great! We have given you some solid foods this past month. Although you aren't really interested. You don't like anything except apple slices. You love to suck and gnaw on those. You would just much rather nurse. Which is fine by me! You are still yelling "dada" all the time. It is so cute. Daddy gets a big smile on his face everytime.

Well sweet boy. You are now closer to your 1st birthday than your birth. You are growing and changing every day. You are the center of my world and I love you so very much. Happy seven months, my darling son.

Always,
Mama

Nathan and Daddy

My two favorite men, relaxing on a Sunday evening! **Be still, my heart.**

Let it snow!

It's snowing!! It is so pretty outside! Nathan doesn't really understand it yet but I think that it's it so lovely. I should go out and take some pictures later. Too cold right now!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nathan and Uncle Tommy!

Nathan and his Cousin Will.

Nathan and Uncle Nick!

Nathan's first Thanksgiving is today! We are going to my mama's to celebrate. I am sure that I will be back with pictures!



Here are just a couple of pictures from Thanksgiving! I didn't take as many as I wanted. :(

Letter to my six month old boy...

Dear Nathan-

You are 6 months old today! Half a year has come and gone so quickly. It seems like just yesterday that I held you for the first time. Today is a difficult day for mama. Such a bittersweet time.

In six months time you have grown to 20lbs and 28 inches long! You grew out of your infant car seat this month so we had to buy you a new one. You still don't like the car at all! Mama has to ride in the back with you and try to keep you busy with toys. You are starting to sit up better. You seem to get tired of holding yourself up though and just fall over. You have become so frustrated with the crawling situation. You want to crawl so badly! But your poor little arms can't support your weight quite yet. So you have solved the crawling problem by rolling every where! You can roll clear across the room in no time! You still drool all the time. We just aren't sure where your teeth are! You got a new toy for Halloween. It is an exersaucer and you love it! You love to spin all around and jump up and down. You still love nursing. You have invented some new nursing positions this past month! We have started to give you frozen apple slices for you to munch on. You seem to like it. We are going to try solid foods shortly. I have a feeling you won't go for that. You love water though. Mama has been letting you have sips of water from her cup and you love it. You grab onto the cup and guzzle it down! It is too cute. You were baptised yesterday. You did so well! You were so smiley and laughed the whole time. The whole church was amazed at how well you did. And when Gordon said, "I present to you Nathan Cole." You looked at the people and laughed! It was so cute! Mama was so proud.

Saying goodbye at the end of these letters always brings me to tears. My sweet boy is growing so fast. The love I feel for you is so overwhelming. It consumes me daily when I look at you. I often wonder how my heart withstands this much love without bursting. You mean the world to me Nathan Cole. You are my heart and my soul.

Love Always,

Mama

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Happy birthday Brandon! I love you so much!

Sick with a capital "S"

Ugh....I feel horrible. I have the flu. I am so hoping that Nathan doesn't get it! He should be ok because he is getting all my antibodies from my milk. Thank goodness for breastfeeding at a time like this. Although my supply has decreased because I feel so yucky. So Mr. Nathan is nursing like a newborn! Which is good because I can lay on the couch and do that! Hopefully I feel better for the baptism and Brandon's birthday this weekend.

Speaking of Brandon, he always takes such good care of me when I don't feel well. He went into work early today so that he could come home early to help me. Such a sweetie. Love you honey! :)

P.S. Thank you all for your lovely comments on my little lion!

Tuesday's thoughts

Geez...the weeks just seem to be flying by! November has arrived! The weather here is so beautiful! Nice and sunny; the kind of weather that you can just wear a sweatshirt in. Nathan and I are taking advantage of it because I have a feeling snow and freezing temperatures are right around the corner.

Speaking of November...this is such a busy month for us! Nathan's baptism and Brandon's birthday are on November 11th this weekend. We are looking forward to the baptism because one of Brandon's friends from work is a minister and he is performing the ceremony for us. Our parents are going to church with us and it should be a lovely day.

Then on November 12th, Nathan will be turning 6 months! Mama is already planning on what she will say in his letter. My baby is growing up! *Happy tears*

The week of Thanksgiving, Nathan and I are joining Brandon on a trip for business. It is not too far away but we decided that we didn't want to be apart for that long so Nathan and I are going too! Mama is looking forward to the indoor pool! I can't wait to take Nathan swimming!

When we get back from our mini-trip, we will be leaving again for Thanksgiving at my mama's house. Such a fun day there! The Colts play on Thanksgiving this year so we will be eating good food and watching some football! After that we always put up the Christmas tree. Later that weekend we will be having Thanksgiving with Brandon's parents at our house. Busy, Busy, Busy!

Not too much else to say today, I am just trying to prepare for the busy month coming up! Must run now, nap time!

Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween today! My little Lion!! RAR!!!!

It's Friday!

I love Fridays. It is also my friend Carrie's Birthday (Happy Birthday Carrie!!). I simply love Fridays because it is almost the weekend! And weekends are fabulous because I get a small break from mama-land.

Speaking of a break, I miss working. I am so ready to go back part-time. Nathan has started to drink some water from a cup so I think that this will allow me to go back to work for a day or two. Although I am pretty scared to leave him with Daddy. Don't get me wrong, Brandon is an amazing father, Nathan just prefers mama rocking him to sleep and I really don't know how he will handle getting breastmilk from a cup rather than the tap. So anyway, I took a big step and emailed Dr. B (our infertility doc) and asked if he had any weekend positions open. AHHHH!!!! I am waiting on a response. Hopefully I get good news. Although a small part hopes that he doesn't have anything open right now because I am going to miss Nathan something fierce! :)

Speaking of infertility, it sucks. Just plain stinking suckity-suck-sucks. Several friends are going through it right now and my heart breaks for them. K is starting an IVF cycle soon. K, I have every part of my body crossed for you! H is still struggling and trying to have faith. Big Hugs H! Like all infertility sufferers, I wish I could say to Brandon "Let's have another baby!" And then we could go make one! Nope, our process involves so much more than that and it makes me sad. I would love to have my babies two years apart but that isn't possible for us. We have to pay off our first loan before we can pay for another cycle. It is going to be a long four years! And even still, I am not sure that will will even do another IVF cycle because, what if it doesn't work on the first try like last time. The fear is overwhelming at times.

Moving onto lighter news...We think that Nathan is saying his first word and wouldn't you know its DaDa. Forget the person who carried you around for nine months, birthed you after 14 hours of labor and three and a half hours of pushing, nurses you for hours and hours upon end, and spends her nights and days seeing to your every need and want. HA! In all seriousness, it is seriously cute!! We are sure that he has no idea what he is saying or that it even means anything but it is just too freaking cute!

So that is all. Mama must go, Nathan is over the frog toy.

Our fall day at IU

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month!

I would imagine that breast cancer is a terrible diagnosis to face. I cannot imagine the thought of something happening to my breasts. While they are not perfect, they are mine and whole. They have nourished my son for five months now. They make milk that is so sweet and rich that my 7lb 11oz boy has grown to over 20lbs. They are amazing and they make me feel amazing, as a mother, as a wife, and as a woman.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I urge all women to perform their self breast exams every month. I urge all women to breastfeed their babies. A study from Yale University found that women who breastfed for 2 years or longer reduced their risk of developing breast cancer by 50%. Many studies agree that the nation's rise in breast cancer rates can be linked to the fact that women in this country are choosing to use artificial infant formula instead of nursing. This is just one of the many reasons to nurse! And just one of the many reasons that I am proud to call myself a lactivist.

Letter to my Five month old boy...

Dear Nathan-

October has arrived and you are five months young this month. I know that I say this in all my letters but it seems like time just flies by. I wish that I could just hit 'Pause' but it seems that someone has decided on 'Fast forward' instead.

You weigh about 20lbs. You are still off the charts for your weight. I love looking at your chunky thighs and double chin. They are so cute and it warms my heart to think that you have grown so much on my milk. You still love to nurse. Your face lights up every time. You move around so much when you are nursing now. You like to play with your feet and rub your hands across my skin and face. Sometimes you even like to pinch! Mama is trying to break that habit! You won't stay on your back at all. You roll over as soon as I put you down. You have started to push up on your hands as if you are trying to crawl. You just can't seem to get your legs in on the act. I have a feeling that you will be crawling soon though. We work on sitting up too. You can sit for a few seconds before falling over. It is too cute! I can't wait until you can sit up on your own so that you can see more of the world around you. We bought you some spoons to play with and have been trying to spoon feed you some water. You seem to understand what the spoon is for and you open your mouth wide when you see it coming. Next month we will be trying to feed you some fruits and vegtables. I am so sad that this time is almost here! It means that you won't be getting all your nutrition from me anymore. But I know you will still be nursing like crazy anyway!

And so dear boy, another month has slipped away. Fall is here and the days are chilly and I just keep trying to hold onto time as it races by. I am sure that you will change so much by the time I write you the next letter, but for today, I will just tell you that I love you so much the way you are.

Always,
Mama

Tuesday's thoughts....

Happy October!!! This is one of my favorite months! I just love fall. I can't wait for the leaves to change here. The weather is just beginning to cool down at night.

Speaking of nights....poor Nathan is up all night! He is teething something fierce! We are really hoping that we see some teeth soon. That is my reason for not posting here as much. I swear I have an excuse!!! :) My normally happy baby is so cranky all the time now. I wish that there was more I could do for him.

Speaking of Nathan....my little boy is pushing up on his arms when he is on his belly now! Just a matter of time before he pushes up to crawl! We are working on getting him to sit up by himself. He does fairly well except he falls over to the side after a few seconds. He will get there soon enough.

Hmmm....what else as been going on? Not really much of anything. I am looking forward to cooler weather so that I can take Nathan outside more. I will try to keep up better! Hopefully Nathan lets mama get some sleep soon!

Our day at the park....