Last year I woke up looking like this:
And I ended the day with this:
A year later, here we are:
What a year it has been!
Motherhood is (obviously) a very tiring and never ending job. That wasn’t exactly a surprise to me. What has surprised me is how much joy I find in the work. Even at those times when I am completely exhausted and can’t just go take a nap because Stevie is still awake, I am happy that God gave us the gift of our son. I’ve definitely wanted, needed, and taken breaks from him, but I have always been ready to come back.
I think the mental demands of motherhood have also been a bit of a surprise to me. In some ways, I feel like a certain percentage of my brain is always occupied with things related to Stevie. This forces me to live my life with, say, only 70% of the brain power I used to use. That explains why I forget more stuff now and why I just can’t seem to stay caught up on anything from housework to emails to blog entries! :)
The last thing I want to mention as I reflect on the past year is how much fun it has been to see Steve become a father. He has so much fun with Stevie and I love to see Stevie get excited when he hears the key in the lock at the end of the day and crawls as fast as he can to the door to see his Daddy!
In all honesty, the infant stage is one of my least favorite stages. I will admit that for my own infant it was better than when I babysat, but I am still very happy to see him growing and interacting more and more with me and with his environment. I look forward to the year ahead as he learns to walk and run (and improves his climbing skills) and as he begins to speak. Most likely, by his next birthday he will have some Russian and Ukrainian words as well as English!
It is really incredible to think about how much he has changed in the past year. Again, I’m humbled at this blessing from God that a few years ago I was doubtful that I would ever experience. I’ll leave you with one last picture taken by my friend Debbie:
I know I’m slacking on this blog, but I just put up a new entry at Sparks Ministry. Stevie’s first birthday is coming up next month, so I plan to post some pictures as well as my thoughts on the past year.
Lately it seems like I’ve been dealing with the customer service departments of different companies for various reasons with varying degrees of satisfaction. So when we received exceptional service yesterday, I wanted to publicize it!
We purchased two strollers before Stevie was born. One was just a frame for his infant car seat and the other was basically for every other situation. We purchased a fairly high end brand that had been recommended to us by someone we knew since we wanted that to last through all Stevie’s stroller years and beyond. Although we bought it last November, I didn’t really use it consistently until June or so. After just a few weeks of use, I began to have problems with the front wheels. They would jiggle like a bad grocery cart and the stroller would not move forward until it sort of shook itself out. I looked on the company’s website and tried using silicone spray on the wheels but that didn’t help. Then I called and was told to tighten a certain thing that was only accessible by removing the wheel. They sent me a little kit to put the wheel back on because you have to break one of the parts to get it off. (I ended up taking it to a service center in town because I was afraid to break what they told me to break!) After I got back from vacation, I tried it again and it was even worse! I called the company and they said they’d send me a new frame.
By this time, we had purchased another stroller and I just wanted our money back on the original one. The stroller company said I would need to make that request of the retailer. That brings me to the great service! Steve and I heartily recommend Buy Buy Baby to anyone needing baby items – especially strollers. They have a great selection and knowledgeable salespeople. I called them to ask about a refund and, after consulting with the store manager, the stroller manager called me back and said they’d be happy to give me store credit. They only offer this 90 days from purchase, but they made an exception. Not only that, but when we went to the store, they also graciously agreed to apply that store credit to the new stroller that we had purchased from them a few weeks earlier. Everyone was very efficient and friendly!
The moral of this story is that for larger purchases we will drive the extra 20 minutes to this store instead of going to the Babies R Us that is closer. I have another service issue still pending resolution with them. . .
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.
