This weekend I finally had the time, energy, and space to work in a sewing project I’ve been thinking about for a few months. One of my friends made me a flannel blanket for Stevie’s birth. I LOVE this blanket! It’s soft and the perfect weight – I take it everywhere! I wanted to make some simplified versions for some friends who recently gave birth and here is my first attempt. I’m pretty pleased! The pictures show each side and then a closeup of the cute prints. (Thanks, Mom, for the prints from your stash!)
Yes, I’ve continued to be a blog posting slacker. I have hopes that life has settled down enough for me to post more often, but I won’t promise anything 
.
Stevie will be 9 months old on August 16. It is hard to believe how fast the time has gone! He now has 6 teeth – four on top (they all came in at once!) and two on the bottom. He loves to pull up on anything and everything and cruises around our coffee table, sofa, and anywhere else he can rest a hand. He continues to be in constant motion with a very happy disposition.
One of the fun things he’s started in the past couple of months is eating solid food. So far, the only things he hasn’t liked are the hot cereals – rice, oatmeal, or cream of wheat. Although I fed him some baby food at the very beginning, we’ve mostly been following an approach called baby led weaning. Some people – especially those with multiple children – would probably just call this common sense! Anyway, basically what it means is that I don’t feed Stevie baby foods or pureed foods – I just feed him regular things. Instead of giving him tiny pieces at this point, I actually give him larger pieces that he can grip and chew/gum. He’s had zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, carrots, peaches, sweet potatoes, broccoli, apples, chicken, hamburger, cheese, yogurt, and here’s a picture of him with his first piece of steak!
Of course, he doesn’t exactly swallow and digest everything, but as he grows he is managing to actually eat more and more of what we give him. It may be a little messier, but I like it because he is mostly feeding himself so that means I get to feed myself! He seems to enjoy it.
He brings a lot of joy to Steve and to me. Sometimes he still just looks so cute we can’t help but take a picture of him!
I’m trying a new version of WordPress on the iPhone. I thought it would be interesting to see if I could post pictures from my phone easily. So, here goes…
These photos show Stevie playing with Daddy’s Einstein bobble head doll on his bouncy seat.
My friend Debbie watched Stevie last week and took these great photos of him:
He is still a very happy little guy who smiles easily and often. He has gotten pretty fast at crawling and the step up from our living room is no match for him anymore! He seems to love being held upright and “walked” by Daddy so I think/fear he will be walking soon . He can sit up, but usually prefers to be on the move.
Stevie loves his public! Anytime I am out with him, he is always smiling at the people who walk by. Usually this entices them to stop and chat with him and admire him and he loves that .
It is hard to believe that 6 months has gone by. I am already a little nostalgic for some of the things he’s left behind .
I’ll leave you with one more picture that captures his essence well:
It is hard to believe that Stevie will be 5 months old next week!
He smiles and laughs a lot! He is very interested in the world around him and especially loves to smile at people we see in stores, restaurants, or elevators. He expects to be admired by all he comes in contact with and he is usually not disappointed . He is a beautiful baby with big blue eyes and a (so far) toothless grin.
His latest trick is crawling. He’s still pretty slow but I’m sure it won’t take long for him to get up to speed. As I look at him, I already see qualities of determination and an ability to work at figuring things out. I also see a pretty cheery disposition and an easy adaptability to different circumstances. He’s definitely a blend of his parents’ personalities!
So far he is very healthy and we count that a huge blessing. He is growing well and it’s fun to see him outgrow the different clothing sizes .
As far as looks, I often think he looks like my sister, Christy. However, when Steve’s Mom brought over his 3 month picture, I realized he looks exactly like his Dad!
See for yourself:
Stevie's Dad at 3 months
Stevie at 3 months
Motherhood is an exhausting job, but also lots of fun!
So many things to do, so little success in actually accomplishing them! In the past month or so, Stevie has been baptized, met his Brady cousins, gone for his first train ride and first two extended car trips, and learned to laugh. I had hoped to document at least some of these things on the blog! I still may go back and catch some of them, but if I wait until I’m caught up, you’ll never see a new post .
My friend Debbie (Austin Debbie, not to be confused with the other 10 Deb/Debbi/Debbies who are also close friends) took some pictures of Stevie a couple days ago and I think they turned out great. She caught a lot of typical expressions. Here they are for your viewing pleasure:
Well, those of you who have had infants are probably not surprised at the lack of posting since Stevie was born! I’m managing to keep him fed, changed, and amused while awake, but that’s almost all I get done in a day! Since I can upload pictures to Facebook directly from my phone, I’ve done a better job of keeping current there but even that has slowed down lately.
Anyway, here are some updated pictures. I’m going to break it down into a few posts that will go up in the next few days, so keep tuning in .
FYI – I started this entry yesterday and couldn’t finish it until today. I’m determined to get at least one entry posted so I’m typing with Stevie on my lap!
Here’s a progression of him in his cradle at various ages:
4 Days Old
And here he is a little later:
3 Weeks Old - typical swaddle escape manuever
11 Weeks
He’s a little scrunched up in the last photo, but maybe you can still see how he’s grown.
Three weeks ago today (Sunday), I was still pregnant. I was about one week overdue and when asked how I was feeling, I usually responded “large!” As I look now at pictures we took that day, I see that I was correct. Even now, I can hardly believe how big I got!
I think I felt about as tired and uncomfortable as I looked in this picture!
We went in Monday morning for a doctor’s appointment and after that exam, we determined to go ahead with a c-section. That was scheduled for later in the afternoon, so we went home to get my hospital bag and run a couple of errands before going to the hospital. The prep took a couple of hours, but the actual surgery went very quickly with no complications and Steven Ronald Sparks (named after his dad and both grandfathers) came into the world at 4:10 pm on November 16! He was 8 lbs, 9 oz and 20-1/2 inches long. You can see our doctor was pretty proud as well .
My recovery has been surprisingly quick. We have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow for them to examine things and make sure all is well, but I don’t anticipate any issues. I was worried that I would be much more incapacitated after a surgery, but it hasn’t really been the case. I’d say the biggest challenge has been learning to nurse him. It certainly doesn’t come as naturally as you might think or wish it did! However, I’m glad to have had access to lots of help and I think we’re starting to get the hang of it . He’s gaining weight and that’s the important thing!
For those of you on Facebook, you’ve seen other pictures. (We can upload pictures to facebook from our phones so it’s easy to put up a quick picture.) For the rest of you, here are some cute shots from the past 3 weeks. He’s a good baby and is showing more and more personality every day. I still have kind of a surreal feeling when I look at him and almost can’t believe that he’s actually my son. When I think about it longer, I am just overwhelmed at the gift of a child – something that just 3 years ago I thought would never happen. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
A few hours old
First family pic - a day old
Strapped in and ready to leave the hospital - nice scrunchy face
After first sponge bath - NOT happy!
Thanksgiving outfit - "I'm thankful for Mommy"
About 2 weeks old
Keeping Daddy company while he studies
Steve’s best friend, John, enjoys woodworking as a hobby. When he heard that we were expecting, he told us that he wanted to make a cradle for the baby. Of course, I was thrilled at the idea! John showed us a few different plans that we could choose from and we talked a little bit about what kind of wood, etc.
Well, yesterday we saw the final product and it is just AMAZING!! It is larger and nicer than anything I imagined and he spent a lot of time on it. It is so cool that I wanted to give it its own blog post . So, here are some pictures of our new cradle that I hope to see passed down to other generations of our family:
(Click on the Images for a more detailed view)
The wood is cherry with a protective cover over the wood that is the same you would use for making anything wooded you might eat from. This way it is non-toxic and waterproof.
We got a good report from our doctor yesterday. Little Sparky is fine and I’m fine. There are no signs that birth is imminent, which is both good and bad for me . Looks like we’re on track for the baby to be around 8 pounds at birth. I was 8 pounds, 3 ounces, so 8 pounds doesn’t seem so crazy.
This week I thought I’d just record some of the random thoughts I’ve had lately:
* Although my belly button has turned almost inside out, it has not become an “outie” – at least not yet!
* The most uncomfortable pregnancy issue (since my wrist improved) I’ve had has been pain in my right hip. Fortunately, that only started about 2 weeks ago and it isn’t constant.
* I have my hospital bag pretty much packed, as well as a bag of stuff for the baby. Hopefully, we’ll remember to put some comfy clothes in for Steve before we leave!
* Lately I’ve been craving more sweets – wonder why that is?
* I have been surprised at myself for going up to random people with babies and asking them questions. For example, I saw a lady at Best Buy with one of the strollers we were considering and asked her if she was happy with it and what she thought of it (we talked for about 20 minutes). Today I asked the lady in front of me at Costco something about one of the little toys she had for her baby. I’m not normally known for doing this!
* Like most things, I’m getting tired of the planning and preparation and I’m getting ready to just get the show on the road .
* I look forward to being able to fit more than just 3 pairs of shoes and to being able to wear my beautiful wedding and engagement rings again.
* Lying on the couch is my most favorite position these days when I’m home
* One other thing I look forward to after having the baby – a delicious Subway sandwich!
