micah's first christmas (part 3/the end)

when ended our christmas festivities with the pavone side of the family. we had a great time, opening gifts, having a delicious dinner, and just hanging with family. we stayed for a few days since we don't get a whole lot of hang time with them. it was a great way to finish up celebrating!

micah's first christmas (part 2)

the second leg of micah's first christmas was at home. he woke up, ate, and then opened up his stocking (mostly baby food :) ) and 2 of his three presents...we had totally cheated and opened our gifts to each other the night before since we knew that we would be wanting to leave as soon as possible to get down to alex's parents' house. here's micah enjoying the morning fun ::

micah's first christmas (part 1)

our christmas festivities start on christmas eve. this has been my family's tradition forever and i love it :) everyone dresses up, we feast on all sorts of yuminess (there are always tamales involved) and open gifts with my parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews. here are some of my favorite shots of the night...

merry christmas from the family staff babies.

james (5 mo), keaton (3 mo), micah (7 mo) and ryder (8mo)

i'm sure if these babies could talk, they would wish you all a merry christmas :)

magical.

there is only one word to describe Disneyland at Christmastime. magical. plain and simple. the people over at disney are incredibly talented at what they do. one of the things on our list of "wants" this christmas season was to take micah to see disneyland. the lights up and down main street with the way the castle is illuminated, just makes me giddy! micah also got to watch his first fireworks show and he was fixated on the lights in the sky! we had so much fun...and it helped that we went on the night that it was 75 degrees at 8pm :)

the hulk.

i affectionately refer to micah as the hulk. this is why ::
this kid has a "hulk" type strength. he pulls himself up on his carseat, his bumbo, and the christmas boxes. and he was doing this before he was even 7 months old! oh micah, how is mama ever going to keep up with you?!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

...actually, it has looked like Christmas for a couple of weeks, i'm just behind on posting :)

here are a few shots from around our home.

paper garland that I made ::

another garland i made ::

new stockings that alex's mom made for us!
(still need another hook for micah's)

i wish my house could always be so festive!

seven months.

for some reason, micah was much easier to photograph this month than he has been for the past couple of months!

micah,

you're sitting up like a pro these days...sitting has been a progressive milestone for you and one that will have a month long date attached to it, but you have mastered it (kinda)! On a couple of different occasions you have crawled on all fours...just for a few feet, and just a couple of times, but still, we are so proud of you :)

remember how last month I said you were busy? well, last month is nothing compared to right now! you are getting into everything. and i mean everything! You got your first tooth on the 1st of December, and your second one popped through yesterday. teething is a beast. we aren't fans of the pain it causes you :( you are trying more and more foods, and it was SO fun to feed you all the veggies from your gongi's homemade soup...you ate it up so quickly...probably because it was the first seasoned food you've had :) you had another first this month...you went into the nursery at church for the very first time! you were a stud and loved playing in there! oh yeah, and i almost forgot your first thanksgiving! you had a great day (there is a draft about that, but there were so many pics that blogger squashed my post! i'm still figuring it out!) and loved the sweet potatoes that your gongi made especially for you...baked sans seasoning :)

every morning when we go in to get you, you get so excited! you wake up happy these days and spend a good 15-20 minutes just talking or rolling around in your bed. speaking of your bed, one of the things that you do every single nap time is pull off your bumpers. mama is kind of a freak about safety, so you have the breathable bumpers that velcro on...velcro is no match for you!

each month holds so many firsts for you and we love getting to share them with you. your first Christmas is coming up and we can't wait! you are a little stud and we love you!

one of those days...

today has been such a strange day.

micah woke up at 7:30am just like any other day. after less than an hour of being awake, he was beyond fussy and nothing was making him happy, so I laid him in his crib and walked out thinking that he would just be fussy in there for a while, but no. no, he did not fuss. in fact, he was asleep within just a couple of minutes. score.

fast forward 3 hours...that's right...three hours later, my little guy woke up! I could barely believe it. had i known it was going to be 3 hours, i definitely would have been more productive instead of lounging all morning!

since then...now 5.5 hrs. later, micah has only slept about 45 minutes and is fussier than fussy. he did cut a tooth earlier this week (that's right, he's a big kid), so I've been attributing it to teething, but i can't help but wonder if he's starting to feel sick for the first time.

it never fails that the day he is extremely fussy, we have somewhere to go. tonight i will have to pack him up and take him to work with me for a very fun event that just might not be very fun with a fussy baby.

i am always thankful when he has days like this with me instead of alex or my mom. of course i prefer good days over bad, but i always prefer to be the one to soothe my guy. is that kinda weird?

I saw this video posted to someone's facebook and just had to share.

we are anticipating this christmas more than ever before because we get to share our traditions with micah and celebrate with him for the first time. i can't imagine losing him 6 months from now, like this family did. Please watch the video and consider donating to St. Jude children's research hospital. and be warned...i'm still crying from watching this video.

thanksgiving weekend.

Micah's first thanksgiving was filled with lots of family and lots of laughter. Each holiday that we get to experience with Micah for the first time is so special to us. Here are some pictures of Micah's first Thanksgiving. (more pics to come with the pavone side...my computer isn't letting me post more!)

happy thanksgiving!

This year, Thanksgiving is extra special because it's Micah's first! We are thankful for too many things to list, but we hope that you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving and reflecting on all of the blessings in your life!

six months.

micah,
the best way to describe you at six months is a ball of energy! if you're awake, you're moving. period. you are so excited to take in all the sights and sounds around you so there's no time for sitting! you do well while leaning forward, but haven't mastered the full sit. Today you are technically 6 months and 4 days and you crawled for the very first time! it was more of a scoot-crawl, but the bottom line is :: you are MOBILE. your dad and i know that we have no idea what we're in for!
you've been eating solids for 2 weeks, and are such a good eater! we haven't quite figured out a schedule for you quite yet but we're trying! you love pretty much everything that we give you but you absolutely hate peas and puffs! i have a pretty funny video of you eating puffs that you will laugh at one day. you love everything else that you have tried...bananas, avocado, pears, sweet potatoes and apples.
at your six month appointment, we found out that you are 28 inches long and 19lbs. 3oz! you are in the 93rd percentile for length, and the 75th percentile for weight. you are a big baby! dr. brown says that you are growing so well and she loves your hair and wild personality. Here are some pictures of how much you've grown over the last 6 months ::


we can't believe that you are already six months old. time seriously flies little man. we love you so much and could not be more happy to be your parents.

love,
mama

if you're a guy, this post won't interest you.

i must clarify, i wouldn't wear this shirt, i just thought it was funny :)

micah's 6 month update is coming, but until i get that post together, i thought i'd write about something that i've been thinking about a lot recently.

when micah was born, i was fully planning to nurse him. he did great the first day. literally needed no help whatsoever through the first night. once the next day hit, we had all sorts of hurdles, but primarily he had a poor latch. then, he got frustrated, and stubborn! we saw multiple lactation consultants, but before we left the hospital, they had me pumping and syringe feeding. to make a long story short, i ended up decided to go the route of exclusively pumping for micah. we just couldn't make nursing work, so i set my sights on pumping.

one thing i found out quickly was that the general assumption is that your milk won't come in if you're pumping or that it won't last past a few weeks. i was told over and over by lactation consultants, doctors and friends that i couldn't do it. i had a few cheerleaders (who i am very thankful for), but mostly i found a lot of negativity.

i found an online forum for "exclusive pumpers" and for those first 12 weeks, I was on that board during almost every pump trying to figure this whole thing out, and those women are AMAZING! i found so much information and support on that online community, and had no supply issues at all...in fact, we had to invest in a deep freeze just to store my milk!

as we hit the 6 month marker of micah's birth, i can proudly say that my baby has been exclusively fed breastmilk for 6 months! He is healthy and growing beautifully! Pumping has not been an easy road...there are bottles to wash, midnight pumping sessions after feeding the baby (only did that for 10 weeks, but still!), pausing life 4-8 times a day for 6 months to make sure that micah has milk, and trying to find outlets (that one is REALLY fun;) ). I have pumped at the orange county fair, disneyland, in nordstrom, and of course in the car. even though the road hasn't been without it's fair share of bumps, the thing i want people to know is that it is possible to pump milk for your baby for an extended amount of time.

i am proud of myself and looking back at the last 6 months makes the next 6 months seem doable!

happy half birthday micah!

six months. half a year. 184 days.

today we are celebrating Micah's half birthday! We are celebrating the fact that we have had him in our home for half a year! We love our little guy SO SO much and are look forward to each new day that we get to spend with him. Happy half birthday little man, we LOVE you!

the happiest place on earth.

alex and i were annual passholders for a couple of years and loved it. we let our passes expire while i was pregnant because, well, it was just a little too much for me. we did however put aside some christmas money from last year for our passes, and on a much needed day off together a couple of weeks ago, we decided to pack up our little man and head over to the happiest place on earth! we are officially passholders again and are excited for the memories we'll make with Micah at disneyland! Here are a few pictures from our day ::

micah very excited to be at disneyland :)

micah taking in "it's a small world"mama and micah on the tram

growing up.

My baby is growing up. I keep trying to slow down time, but it just isn't working! Here's a video of our little man's first taste of solid food...avocado!

we have a winner!

The winner of our first ever giveaway just happens to be my sister in law, Nicole! We used random.org to choose between all 6 of you ;)

Congrats Nicole, let me know if you would like a boy or girl grab bag and I will send your info to BabyLegs!

...and just because he's awesome, here's a pic of Micah rocking his BabyLegs with his great grandpa!

alex has an etsy shop.

My crazy talented hubby has recently opened an etsy shop with some photography prints, Christmas photo cards, and a pretty awesome baby onesie. Here are some samples from his shop::



Check it out here :: http://www.etsy.com/shop/atpavone?ref=seller_info