Thanksgiving

Well, I know this is a little late, but we had a very busy, packed holiday week(end). Cameron was off for almost a week, which was fabulous. My sister was home for almost a week, which was equally as fabulous. So, this Thanksgiving we were with my family. It was Cameron, Reese, my parents, my sister, my grandmother, and me. We had enough food to feed an army. It was wonderful. Cameron and I tried to be good, but of course we went over our points, but we knew we would!

***SIDE NOTE***

Cameron and I started WW back two weeks ago. So far, so good. I get lots of extra points for nursing, so that helps me not be hungry. So far I've lost about 8 lbs in two weeks! Not too bad.

Okay, back to Thanksgiving. It was great to hang out with Emmie so much and for her to see Reese. She hasn't seen him since he was three weeks old and he has changed so much. He's like a whole different baby!

Cameron absolutely loves this time of year and was super excited about getting our trees and decorating for Christmas. So, on Black Friday while all the crazy people were out at the butt crack shopping, we were getting our trees! Sunday we went to Cochran to visit with Cameron's grandparents and parents. Reese got to meet his great-great-Aunt Opal and his great-aunt Shirley.

I have so much to be thankful for this year. So, here is a tribute of things I'm thankful for.

My husband...I am so thankful the Lord has blessed me with such a wonderful husband. He truly is my soulmate and best friend. He has been so great throughout this whole pregnancy and while I find my footing as a mother. He is such a fabulous father to Reese and I am more in love with him everyday.

My family...from my immediate family, to my extended family, to my "in-law" family, everyone has been so excited and supportive about the pregnancy and having a baby in the family. I couldn't ask for a better family.

My friends...I love and miss my friends so much. I don't have anyone that lives here (in Fort Valley) but I do have friends that live in Macon and for that I am thankful. The rest of them are spread out anywhere from the metro Atlanta area, Savannah, Augusta, Lookout Mountain, and as far as Australia. I am so fortunate to have friends from every stage of my life: growing up, college, and dental school. I don't know if there are too many people who can say they have the same friends they had when they were in utero!

And last, but certainly not least, my precious Reese...I am sooooo thankful for my beautiful, healthy baby boy. He is perfect in every way and has been such a sweet, good baby. I am so fortunate that he is healthy and that I had a relatively easy pregnancy. Reese is such a blessing and I thank God every day that he is a part of my life.

I hope eveyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The countdown is on till Christmas! I've got some shopping to do!

Two Months

Dear Reese,

Another month has come and gone and my how you have grown! You are such a different baby than you were a month ago. You smile and coo all the time. You started smiling a few weeks ago, but you are doing it all the time now. You love smiling at everyone, but your favorites are Mommy and Daddy. You love to hear Mommy sing and it makes you smile every time! You've even giggled a few times. It was music to Mommy's ears! You have rolled over twice in one tummy time session (which you hate!) but haven't done it since. You love thrusting your legs and arms and can stand up on our lap. Holding your head up is old hat. You can track a toy side to side and up and down.

The most important milestone you have reached is "sleeping through the night"! You have been doing that for almost a week now and Mommy and Daddy have been loving the uninterrupted sleep. Granted, it's only about 5-6 hours by the time we actually get in the bed and get asleep! You go to bed for the night between 11 and 11:30 are usually up between 6:30 and 7. Sometimes you fuss in the night, but you love your paci and it helps you calm down and go back to sleep. Reese, you love your bouncy seat and are starting to become fascinated by the animals that hang over you, particularly the monkey! We love you so much and can't wait to see what each day brings. You are learning and changing so much every day and growing up so fast! We love you very much!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

RIP UGA VII and the Dawgs' Awful Season

Well, this season has not been the best season to start out your life as a UGA fan. But Reese has donned his black and red several weekends this year to cheer on the Dawgs. The following is a commentary of the failed attempt at victory against the Kentucky Wildcats this past Saturday.



But first, Reese was very excited to meet long-time UGA coach Vince Dooley on Friday (sorry it's a little blurry, I didn't know he was going to be there so this is with the cell).

And now, UK vs. UGA by Reese Garvin:

Let's get ready for some football!! Gooooooo Dawgs, Sic 'Em, Whoof, Whoof, Whoof!! I wore my new black outfit to show respect for Uga VII...RIP, Uga VII.

Good first half, guys! Way to come back and take the lead. Keep it up...we need a win tonight. Our season has been less than stellar.

Guys! What happened?! Why are we tied? Come on Dawgs, get it together!

Bleh!!! That's what I think about Kentucky and this stinky game. There's always next week, although I won't be holding my breath.

I'll post something over the weekend after Thanksgiving more about what Reese is doing. I didn't post an 8 week update because he's going to be two months old Saturday, so I was just waiting. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

7 Weeks

Well, 7 weeks have come and gone and in another 7 weeks, I have to go back to work. I'm kinda sad about that! Reese is so much more alert than he was even a week ago. He "talks" all the time and just acts like he really has something important to say. He's making sounds such as "ahh, ehh, gah, geh, goo, and oh". I've even caught him laughing a couple of times! He is such a happy baby! He looks like he is in deep thought in this picture! As best I can guess he weighs around 10.5lbs (I weighed myself and then weighed myself holding him...I know, it's very scientific). We also graduated from newborn to size 1 diapers. He has settled pretty well into a rhythm and handles himself okay when that rhythm gets thrown off. He pretty much gets up between 7-7:30am, nurses, plays, and then goes down for a nap, napping anywhere from 2 hours to only 45 minutes (depends on how fussy he is). He repeats this pretty much every three hours until "bedtime" at around 7:30. He gets up for a "dreamfed" around 10-10:30 and then goes right back down to sleep. Even if he's wide awake, which he is a lot of the time, we'll put him back in his basket and he'll just look around for a while until he falls asleep. Although, Cameron and I usually beat him to the Land of Nod, so I have no idea how long he stays awake. He doesn't cry, so I don't worry about it! After that he's usually up between 3 and 4 am to nurse and goes right back down. Then we do it all again the next day! I love the mornings the best because that's when he is the most alert and happy. He still gets kinda fussy in the afternoons and evenings sometimes, but he rarely cries when we put him down and if he does it isn't for very long. He is starting to like his bed and room more and more. He will just lay there with his eyes open and look around until we come get him (if it's time to get up) or until he falls asleep. Reese is such a joy to be around and I am loving being his Mommy!

By the way...mastitis strikes again! I'm pretty sure I've got it in the left breast this time. It feels the same as the right did and I'm running a very low grade temperature. I'm hoping they will just call me in the meds instead of making me come in and wait 2.5 hours to be seen for 5 minutes. Anywhoo...

29 and Holding...

This past Saturday was my birthday and unlike previous years, the build-up to the big day was non-existent. My parents used to always make such a big deal out of our birthdays that I have been obnoxiously excited about my birthday ever since I can remember. I'm talking starting Oct 14 at the latest I'm always saying "my birthday is in one month!" and it just gets worse the closer it gets (I know, what am I? 5 years old?!). I assume the excitement will go away after this year. I turned 29, or as I like to say, 29 and holding. This year, however, with the excitement of having a newborn (can I still call him a newborn at 7 weeks?) it kind of slipped up on me this year. And with my head being in a continuous fog, I was zero help coming up with gift ideas. My poor mother had to use a couple of things she'd gotten me for Christmas as my birthday gift because I was no help...oops!

My weekend was very busy with lots of visitors, phone calls, and texts. Not to mention the all important college football! Cameron really outdid himself pampering me and making me wonderful meals all weekend. Saturday he made me breakfast and dinner. My good friend Carolyn came down from ATL to hang out with us and meet Baby Reese, so we went out to lunch (but if we'd been home, I'm sure Cameron would have made that for me, too). Cameron's Dad and step-mom came over Saturday morning to see me...oh who am I kidding?! They came to see Reese! So, Sunday my parents, Cameron's mom and step-dad and grandparents came to celebrate. Cameron made brunch for us all. It was yummy! He also gave me the most beautiful flowers, made me a cupcake cake, and gave me a beautiful bracelet. Reese gave me a gift certificate for a massage (he told me he picked it out himself). I really racked up for someone who gave no one any ideas! I got a necklace and wine, money, a cute purse and wallet, a certificate for a spa pedicure, picture frames, socks, and a new dual tuner TiVo (so excited!) Of course my greatest gift came almost 7 weeks before my birthday. I thoroughly enjoyed my first birthday as a Mommy and look forward to many more!

6 Weeks and Possibly a Good Sleeper?!

Well, I'm hoping that Reese is developing some good nighttime sleeping habits. He's been going from about 10pm-4:30am the past couple of nights...over 6 hours!! So, if we can get that chunk of time moved from like 1-7 then we'll be golden! He's still having a little bit of an issue with daytime sleep. I'm still trying to learn his sleep cues and sometimes think I'm letting him get overtired so then he fusses and doesn't want to go to sleep. Sometimes he'll cry for a few minutes and konk out, other times he has to be rocked to sleep. He's starting to nurse for longer during the day so maybe he's gearing up for longer chunks at night?! One can only hope!

I can't believe he's 6 weeks old. I know I say "I can believe he's fill-in-the-blank" but I really just can't! He squealed for the first time on Saturday. I'm not sure if he did it on purpose or if it was just a fluke, but I'll take it! When he is so awake and alert it's very easy to get him to smile really big smiles. It's quite hilarious that the thing that really gets him going is the theme song from Friends. If he could laugh at me, he probably would. His little personality is just really starting to show. He was even cheering on the Dawgs Saturday even though they got smacked by FL (boo Gators!). He had fun, though! We didn't really dress him up for Halloween this year, although he did have a ghost onesie and a Baby's First Halloween outfit that we put on him. It swallowed him up! I think he is gaining weight pretty good and he is so long. He loves to just stretch out when you lay him on his changing table. We think he has outgrown the food scale because between him and casserole dish, it says "error"...there's an 11lb max. I'll try to weigh him with me on the scale soon. He doesn't go back to the doctor till December 9th, so we got awhile before we get an accurate measurement.

I had my 6 week postpartum check up today and everything is looking good. I don't have to go back unless something comes up. My mastitis is much better. Pretty much cleared up and hopefully that'll be the end of it. Overall I'm feeling pretty good!

On another note, we got our birth announcements in the mail today and I was so excited to see them. They are cute, but the finish on them makes them look cheap, which they weren't. It's almost like the finish on them isn't like a photograph, so the picture part looks like it was printed on card stock. Meaning there's no gloss or shine to it like a picture. We ordered them from Shutterfly so I was a little disappointed with the quality. We decided to send them back because we were just not happy with them. They are going to try to reprint them or give us a refund. We'll see how it turns out...we might be starting from square one.

Please, No Pictures

Oh, sweet baby! I love this picture. Reese had a photo shoot with Amy Hiley from Hiley Creative Photography (http://www.hileycreativephotography.com/) and he was slightly less than cooperative. He was a little diva! I think he was having a tummy ache, though, so it only lasted about 20 minutes, but she got some great pictures! Here are few of my favorites.



He's really smiling a ton lately and cooing all the time (when he's awake...and not crying). It's very sweet! I'm telling you what, nobody can make him smile like his Mama. Cameron's pretty close, but Reese always has a smile for Mommy! I just can't believe how much he's grown and changed. It's amazing!

In other news, I have mastitis in my right breast. I was running a moderate fever Monday night and all day Tuesday. I haven't had one today, so that's good. And I've had bad soreness, too, almost a bruised feeling. I just have to keep nursing and pumping and take the antibiotics they gave me and hopefully it'll clear up soon. And hopefully I won't get it again! I'm tellin' ya...motherhood is not for wussies!