We’ll get to that later.

Jordan is one of my closest friends from elementary through middle school. Freshman year at Ball State, by chance our dorm rooms ended up two doors down from each other. That year was filled with laughter, impromptu “movies,” music videos, discovery and just plain old fun. Her roommate, Laura, was another friend from middle and high school days, and combined with my bestie and roommate, Rachel, the four of us were always finding something exciting to do in Muncie. Jordan transferred to UT the next year and Laura and Rachel both left BSU the following year, so we look back on those days with fond memories. Even the distance from Tennessee to Indiana doesn’t keep us from seeing each other at least once a year. J is my gal-pal, and when she giddily told me about this guy named Matt, I knew I had to meet him.

They came to visit around this time last year, and I got to witness the true, innocent love shared between Matt and Jordan for nearly a week. I was pregnant and swollen and secretly hoping that Wes would be able to attend their wedding. Sure enough, just a few short months later, I got a phone call and photo text of a beautiful engagement ring. Jordan asked me to be her matron of honor, and what an honor it was!

Wes was a star. He was happy and pleasant the whole trip – even during the unexpected 1.5 hour detour, which made Steven madder than a hatter. He slept and napped well. He sported many smiles. Getting the Pack n Play set up was a struggle, however. The bruises all over my wrists are a lovely shade of blue. Must practice more.

Steven was great, too. He pretty much babysat Wes so that I could have fun. I’m sure Matt would have liked Steven to be around more, so next time I think we may leave him with Grandma. Note to self.

Laura, mentioned above, was a bridesmaid, as was Hayley, Jordan’s 15-year-old niece. During the rehearsal, we kept teasing each other about the possibility of fainting during the ceremony. You must realize that the ceremony and reception site was absolutely beautiful, but the balcony where the bridal party stood had little ventilation. It was down right hot up there. Laura giggled that she’s never been to a wedding where someone DID faint, but that it’s largely talked about and witnessed on youtube and the like. Wouldn’t it be fun to attend a wedding where someone did?

Once we were all in place and the floor was marked with tape where we were to stand, Laura and I jokingly told Hayley that if she needed to faint, she could lean forward on me or backward on Laura. We had her back. Good thing, too.

Now, I only tell this story because Hayley is fine & well and able to laugh about it now. Serious kudos to her for taking it lightly!

It was a wonderful view, to look down from the high balcony on Jordan and her dad coming down the aisle. In this photo, you can see the adoration on Matt’s face as he watches his bride. I mean, completely smitten! The minister’s words were fantastic, and the couples’ written vows made for a waterworks show. Just as the ceremony was starting to wrap up, Hayley put her hand on my shoulder and whispered, “I’m going to pass out.” At first I thought she was kidding, but I said, “I’ve got you.”

Everyone – well, nearly everyone – had their head bowed in prayer, which was great timing for all of the following events to happen. The bridal party were all turned inward to face M&J, and in the next moment, I felt Hayley’s chest on my back. She wasn’t kidding! “Ok, we got this,” I kept telling myself. I bent my knees and leaned far forward to absorb her weight as she indeed passed out. Laura wrapped her arms around Hayley so she wouldn’t fall to the side. It was a sight to behold, I’m told.

After a few long moments, she stood up straight and gasped. The prayer was still going strong, but I think that’s when a few family members and a couple ushers noticed the scene. Hayley said next, “I’m going to pass out again. I need to sit.” And almost instantly, she started to fall backwards into Laura. Her pretty face was getting paler by the minute, and we needed to make a quick decision. Team Laura/Leah sandwiched her again, and by the grace of God, an usher appeared on the opposite side of the locked french door behind us. He quickly opened it, and thankfully there was a couch right by the door. We laid her down and fetched orange juice. The prayer ended just as we got her settled! Surely Jordan was slightly confused why her bridesmaids disappeared!

I’m confident this event will get funnier and more dramatic as the years go on, and I sure hope they can embellish it to make a very unique and entertaining wedding story. So, Laura in fact, DID get to witness a fainting bridal party member! I doubt any one got footage of this encounter, and it truly is a shame. We were hailed as “the best bridesmaids in the world” by several wedding attendees throughout the night, and one even joked that he thought we were just “feeling the power of prayer” as our bodies bent in every which way.

The rest of the night went smoothly and was a lovely time. Matt and Jordan are meant for each other. Their love is sweet, sincere and full to bursting. It certainly is a wedding I won’t soon forget!

I dragged around my new birthday camera received just a few days before. I tried to be creative and artsy. Let me just say that it takes several days to figure out how to operate a new-to-you camera. I have plenty of awkward, missed-moment shots from the weekend. Dang shutter speed! (View them here.)

Facebook is great. I like keeping up with people and seeing photos of families and hearing of news that I probably wouldn’t otherwise. It also opens up all kinds of silent judgments, and for that, I often contemplate pulling back from social media. I don’t want to, so I don’t, but it comes to mind more often than not. Usually it just means I hide certain types of posts and be done with it. I know I still have that new-mom grace period so I’m allowed to post a kajillion photos of Wes everywhere, but I also wonder how many people have hidden ME because of it. Posts about wanting to stay home with children but can’t, posts about kids growing up too fast – all that – I just don’t fit in.

Maybe it’s because I have a job that challenges me and keeps me craving more. Maybe it’s because I love my coworkers. Maybe it’s because I’m working for a fantastic mission in the face of a cold and scary national reality. Maybe it’s because it’s pretty much my dream job. Well, I’m sure it’s all of these things to an extent, but the fact is, when I was pregnant, I didn’t think I would want to stay home fulltime. I had many people tell me I would change my mind, but I haven’t. Sometimes I feel guilty about it. Will Wes think I love my job more than him one day? Will it make me a worse mom?

Yes, my job is overwhelming at times. 2012 is my busiest year yet. Throw in a new logo design and launch, and you don’t have nails for the year. And yes, I am truly looking forward to family vacation in September and my dear friend Jordan’s wedding next weekend. They keep me going. Knowing that I have so much to look forward to keeps my pace. But I still don’t believe I would trade it for staying home. It’s possible my life may change, and I may look back on these times and think Past Me is crazy for not being home. And that will be another windy post.

While I’m on the podium, I’m also “weird” in the fact that I’m just not in love with the infancy stage of life. I know it’s supposed to be some of the best years – watching tiny people grow into little people in just a short year. Since Month 6, we’ve had much better sleep and a much happier baby, but I’m ready for him to do toddler things. GASP. I know, I probably will regret saying that in the near future. I don’t want to wish away his life, either, so I’m savoring what I can each day. But honestly, mothering babies is so competitive. Women are the worst, most judgmental people in the universe. And I know I struggle with envy of nice, rounded heads filled with hair on a mobile baby. Why does it even matter? ALL KIDS GET HAIR. MOST KIDS WALK. It’s not like Wes has a terminal illness. I am blessed to have THE cutest and most expressive kid on the planet (Mothers: judge away). And more seriously, I am blessed to have Wes at all.

All my needless worries about hitting developmental milestones melt away when I slap myself back to reality. Too many of my friends are facing some sort of fertility, pregnancy or special needs battle. And again, Facebook opens up a world of knowledge I wouldn’t know about people otherwise. Through social media, my heart aches even MORE for people dreaming and praying for strong, healthy children and mothers. How can I be so thoughtless?

I am the 1%. I’m weird and like working. I’m ready to tackle “terrible threes” (yes, I know it’s supposed to be “two,” but frankly, 3 is harder!). And I feel like the lone person in the world who doesn’t know how to best comfort and console a hurting, wounded or barren woman. However, I do know the immeasurable power of prayer, and you’d better believe my list is growing.

She hangs out in our front yard redbud tree – a great escape, yet close enough to keep an eye on her porch-home. Usually she flies there whenever a door opens, closes, a car passes or the mailman comes to the porch. I used to worry about those poor baby birds… what if Mrs. Robin got too scared to come back to the nest?

But the last few days, there have been terrible rain and thunder storms. She has spent more time than ever cuddled in her nest. I’ve peeked in a few times, and as of this morning, there are four perfect, baby blue eggs just waiting to release new life.

Aren’t they beautiful? Seriously. I can’t wait for the next few weeks as little babies emerge from those shells. It’s amazing how mothers of all shapes and sizes know exactly what to do to care for little ones.

Om nom nom

Our chunk is getting leaner. After his 9 month check up, we found he’s dropped into the 90th percentile for weight! He remains in the 50th for height. And his poor little head, it’s only in the 10th. However, I found several sites that bring his head circumference into the 25th, so I’m going with that. Why am I suddenly sad to know that he’s not bigger than nearly every other kid his age? Did I really find THAT much pride in his thick thighs? (Oh, and don’t worry – they’re still there.)

He’s getting more independent. And he seems to know what he wants and when. If whatever it is I bring him isn’t IT, he sure lets us know. One of these days he’s going to finally master crawling to ease his frustration with us! The past month, we’ve made a conscious effort to keep him on his stomach up to 10 minutes every 2 hours. Hard at first, but he can now tolerate being on his belly for much longer periods of time, which finally gives him the chance to work on those muscles. I was pleased to report to the doc that he can rock on his knees… it’s amazing what little joys I have in my life now!

We discovered yet ANOTHER tooth poked through his gums recently, and there’s another one just on the brink of appearing. Our neighbors have a rambunctious and highly entertainingly wild 3-year-old girl who, at a year old, had a full set of teeth. I always found this amusing. Perhaps there’s something in our drinking water that creates mutant tooth growth.

Wes refuses to be spoon-fed these days, hence the independence. He insists on feeding himself, except: 1) new textures disturb him (so goodbye bananas for a few months), 2) green foods are only for swiping to the floor and 3) 20% of food actually lands in his mouth. All my fun evenings of pureeing and storing massive amounts of food are at a standstill. Humph. Buuuuut, the good news: he’s able to feed himself formula through his sippy cup! Yessss. I can actually have my arms free during this “activity” again.

Aside from all the above challenges, Wes is a super duper baby. He is chill to the max. He sleeps great – even during the day. He gives amazing morning hugs. His handsome brown eyes smile more than his mouth. He loves to be out and about, so shopping is a pleasant surprise. He loves being outside, taking walks and going on bike rides. He thinks Jake & Lucy are the best things since sliced bread, and they love him back to a million pieces. Jake stands still as Wes “gently” pats and hugs him; Lucy allows him to tug her ears and examine her tail. They are rewarded with those awesome baby giggles that make you cry – I mean, it’s commercial material!

Month 9 photos are up. Enjoy!

Got..to...seethefan!

I remember daydreaming about this Easter last year and how weird it would be to celebrate with a kid. For the most part, I’m pretty used to the change of routine, but I still find myself looking at Wes and thinking, “He belongs to ME?” It’s still strange, this new-mom thing.

I’m not sure what I expected it to be like when I daydreamed in 2011, but Easter was fun. Saturday was spent with my parents, sister and the kids. We dyed eggs, went on an egg hunt and played with the new toys found in our baskets. Elli wasn’t so sure about waiting to find her basket until AFTER the eggs were dyed, but she quickly realized how cool the process was and got distracted. Heh. Wes loves watching his cousins almost as much as ceiling fans and clocks! Easter Sunday was a wonderful service at church and then Mom & Dad came over to eat leftover ham and lounge at our house. We even got a surprise visit from little Bebe and her parents after their spring break vacation.

Did I mention that Wes and Steven had matching skinny ties?!?!?! Seriously, it was THAT cute. And I’m not the only one who thinks it because as of today, there are 81 likes on facebook, which may possibly be more than his birth photo…

I told a coworker the other day how terrified I was when pregnant that I would have a child that needed a helmet because of flat-headedness. Now I find myself being terrified of NOT getting a helmet for little Wes. I know my pediatrician will say it’s not bad enough for that, but the fact that the little chunker refuses to roll over and hates tummy time means that he sleeps on his back all night – in the same position. He won’t stay on his side to sleep (which I know it’s the “right” way to put an infant to bed anyway), and he just prefers to be facing up if he’s not standing or sitting. People I complain to keep telling me that they’re sure it will pop out and get nice and round some day, but I’m afraid it’s getting to the point of permanence. And it’s not like he’s laying down all day, either – he prefers to be sitting and looking around while awake.

Arrgggghhh. I know I’m just being vain, but with our combined genetics, it’s likely Wes will go bald in his later age. He may hate me for the state of his head shape! If he ever grows hair, maybe I’ll just forget about his flat spot and find something else to worry about.

Regardless, our Lord is risen and he has blessed us with a quirky, happy little boy who occupies 9 thoughts out of 10 in any given moment of my day!

8.5 months

Nearly 3 weeks late, I finally took photos of Wes at 8 months old. It’s probably because Months 7-8 have been my favorite thus far and I’ve been too busy playing with the cute little guy. Wes is sleeping really well – both at night and at nap times – and it makes a world of difference in his mood. He has been happy, playful and super entertaining the last 6 weeks. He loves his parents, his dogs and his grandparents. He recognizes people he sees on a regular basis, and he greets almost everyone with an adorable, toothy grin.

This weekend has been Drool City because the top front teeth have begun their emergence. I can already glimpse what cute smiles await in the very near future!

We’re still battling Operations Rollover and Crawl. Tummy time is pretty much Wes’ least favorite thing in the whole world. The good news is that he will slooooowly inch backwards with his arms, and he will tolerate – and even rock slightly – when helped onto his knees. I told a friend recently that I can’t even fathom dealing with the really difficult issues of Wes’ childhood & adolescence… this is hard enough!

Several other pieces of news to share from the Shattuck household in a later post, but until then, enjoy Photo Shoot 8!

Few words but many smiles

I still haven’t taken his Month 8 photos, so instead, here’s a list of The Favorite Things of Wes.

Food – This kid eats a lot. Well, I guess I don’t really know for certain, but he seems to eat more than the other kids his age. This isn’t saying much because the 2 little people his age that we see most often are teeny tiny girls somewhere between the 15-25th percentiles. A typical day includes: 8 oz bottle for breakfast, smaller bottle mid-morning, with a few snacks in between. 4-6 oz of solid, pureed food for lunch, followed by another bottle. Then a late afternoon or evening bottle comes before a dinner of another 4-6 oz of pureed food.

I really like making his food. I’ll order specific veggies and fruits from our Green B.E.A.N. home delivery service and plan out my Sunday afternoon of food-making. I skip making apple sauce and just buy a huge jar of natural stuff at the store, but man, I love scooping out the tender flesh and juices of squash and sweet potatoes, steaming greens, pears and coming up with interesting combinations. He’ll pretty much eat it all – given it’s got some sweetness to it.

• Bananas – STELLAR
• Apple sauce – Love it, like whoa
• Pears – It’s sweet, so therefore, he’ll eat it.
• Green beans – Yes.
• Broccoli – Amazingly, positive.
• Squash – Meh. Only good when “hidden” within others.

I use a Ninja food processor and loooooove it. It’s fast, easy to clean and only has one button (on the top!). We make smoothies with it, and I’ve also been treating myself to “ice cream” (frozen banana + peanut butter + cocoa) on these unseasonably warm nights.

Then, I freeze the food in one-ounze cube silicone trays, pop them out into freezer bags the next day and store them in my deep freeze, all labeled and ready to go. It’s super fun to pick out the menu for the day.

Baby Mum-Mum – We recently rediscovered these rice husk crackers. Meaning, I had bought them and Wes wasn’t ready for them and it was a waste of his time, but now he squeals at the sight of the bag. They’re great. Fast-dissolving, I don’t worry about him choking on these things, and he loves to grasp it. I usually have to fight off the dogs when he’s eating one, however. And I love hearing that sweet little noise of cracker scraping against his bottom teeth. He feels like hot stuff when he eats one of these babies.

Vtech Baby’s Learning Laptop – This was a Christmas present from Pa & Nana. If he sees it across the room, he grunts until you bring it to him. With the lights, sounds and music, who could resist pounding it?

Ambi Twin Rattle – Another Christmas present, but from Grandma and Grandpa. I find myself playing with this addictive & captivating gear toy.

OBall – Easily picked up and thrown by little hands, Wes can’t get enough of this ball. We can spend 10 or more minutes rolling it back and forth. You can see the excitement he feels as his arms and legs spread wide and his hands open and close quickly. Can’t go wrong with an Oball or two!

Taggie Blanket – This small blanket is quickly becoming Wes’ lovie. He instantly relaxes and sports sleepy eye when he grabs it. The little silky tags around the sides find their way into his mouth, in his grasp and over his face. It’s a perfect size, and it probably should be washed.

Homedics Soundspa Projector - Once all snuggled in his jammies, tucked into his crib with his lovie, Wes enjoys a light show on the ceiling as he falls asleep. I did a lot of research on baby projectors, and this one seems to be the best in most categories: price, timer, movement and interchangeability. He cranes his neck to see the display even before he’s lying in his crib, so I know he likes watching the jumping sheep fly across his ceiling. We’ll be taking this with us when we travel this summer.

My kid has good taste.

Then we found and rescued 6-month-old Lucy, who was scared at night and just wanted our company. It was Steven this time, who allowed her into our already full queen bed.

Usually the beginning of the night is fine, when we’re all just getting into bed and falling asleep. But somehow these dogs have some uncanny way to unfurl from a tight little ball to monstrous bed-hoggers.

Impressed by my Photoshop skills? Oh yeah. If you haven’t yet seen How To Be A Dad, check out this great series called “Baby Sleep Positions.”

1) Wes gets overwhelmed. His babysitter has been saying this for a while, but I hadn’t witnessed it until recently. If he is around kids older than him or if there is more than one or two rambunctious children nearby, he becomes super clingy and irritable. Adult company and quiet(er) kids are fine.

2) Scream-crying. Usually this starts when he is hungry and happens to see a bottle (full or empty) within his line of sight. Solid foods, at this point, are useless, and you better shove a bottle in his mouth as soon as physically possible, or else you’ll regret it.

Last night he went to bed as normal. He gets tired soon in the evening and quickly turns into a pumpkin. Thankfully, he can put himself to sleep easily anywhere between 6:30-7:30 p.m., and in this case, he was asleep by 6:15. It worked out well because I had plans to get together with friends for a movie night – I even stayed out way past my usual bedtime, and he was still sound asleep until the scream-crying started at 2 a.m.

Now, he has always woken up 2-3 times each night, but easily falls back asleep with my coaxing or nursing. I went in to do my usual routine, and he settled back down for 5 minutes and began crying again. After 3 more attempts over the next hour, I gave up and brought him into bed with us. This worked for about 40 minutes, but to avoid a lengthy story, we didn’t sleep much.

Guess it’s time to seriously tackle the night waking issue. And those ear plugs that I bought during sleep training will now get used. I am so thankful that he puts himself to sleep at the beginning of the night and has a fairly consistent nap schedule. Here’s hoping this works in our favor and it doesn’t take much to get over this bump in the road.

On a lighter note, check out these adorable photos of Wes at 7 months! He continues to be a happy, pleasant, laid back kid – provided he’s near his mom & dad, food and gets ample sleep.