this kid kills me....

stolen

I'm stealing this from Alex's photography blog because it's just too cute. This kid makes me smile all day long. I'm totally in love.

mixed emotions

Saying that I have mixed emotions about returning to work is a complete understatement.

I have loved EVERY second that I am home. I have been thankful that even when he's been fussy all day long (Thank you Jesus that there have only been a few of those days!), I have the privilege of being his mama and being the one who GETS to comfort him. My favorite time of day is after his first morning feeding when I literally just set the bottle down, lie down and snuggle my little man while we fall back to sleep just gazing in each others eyes. I cannot begin to describe the emotions that flood my heart during those moments. It's heavenly. We have fun just hanging around the house, or going out for walks or errands. He is such a little trooper and is happy pretty much anywhere (although he is a little like his mommy and gets a bit overwhelmed when too many arms want to hold him!). We have had an amazing 10 weeks together (can you believe he'll be 10 weeks on Wednesday?!) and we still have another week and a half. I am trying hard to savor every.single.second. I don't want to take one moment for granted. I don't want to leave him...not even for a day...but I know it's coming.

I love my job. love. it.
I have missed my staff team, my volunteer team, and my kids. I miss planning each week, and I definitely missed having a bigger role in vbs. Being pulled out from the middle of everything has definitely shown me some areas that need working on, and I have faced insecurities that I never knew I had. There is a part of me (a big part) that is excited to go back and get right back in the middle of ministry. I want to know what's going on, and I want to see how the kids have grown and what God is doing in their lives. I want to spend August with the kinders who will be moving up in the fall and I want to be with the people who are not just coworkers, they're family. I just wish I could do all of that with Micah.

I can't imagine another full time job that would let me be with my baby as much as I will be able to. I'm thankful that it's not a typical 9-5. On the weekends, Alex and Micah will be there with me. As long as Micah can nap anywhere, he and his daddy will spend lots of time at church :) I will still be with him all of thursday and friday, as well as most of Saturday and Sunday. I cannot imagine having better people to be with him while I'm away (daddy and Gongi), and I know first hand that it's possible to be an amazing mom while working full time (my mom has always worked full time and there's not a better mama out there!). I am trying to remind myself of all these things on a daily basis so that my heart doesn't just break at the thought of being away from my squishy little guy.

I know that I will probably ride this roller coaster of emotions for the next few weeks, and probably even longer. I am just trusting that God knows all that I'm feeling and will meet me in the middle of it. He has put me where I am at for a reason, and I am thankful for that!

two months.

Our little guy is two months old. I can barely believe it! I totally resonate with the saying, "the days are long, but the years are short." I love, love, LOVE every minute that I get to spend with my guy. Micah is such a sweet baby. He is smiling all the time, and even his cry and sad face are super cute! The pouty lip is just too much! He is packing on the pounds, and I am dying to know how much he weighs when we go in for his check-up next week. This month he has really started to look just like my dad's baby pictures. I need to scan my dad's pic and do a side by side of the two of them!

This month he started smiling, started "talking," began drinking another half ounce each bottle, went through a growth spurt (or two!), and moved up a clothes size...what a big month for such a little baby!!

Before he hits the three month mark, I will be going back to work...I definitely have some mixed emotions about going back, but I am trying to focus on the time I have with him, not the time I will be away from him...easier said than done though ;)

they're almost here!!

The long awaited arrival (okay, so maybe it's just our staff that has been anxiously awaiting these to be released...) of the first TruWorship albums is quickly approaching (does that sentence even make sense?!). On July 13th (a very special day around this house :) ), Songs From the Playhouse, and Radio the World will be released! You can get these two albums on Amazon or iTunes...I definitely think you should preview and BUY them! (These albums accompany the curriculum we've been working on developing, but are great for kids to have at home as well!!)

"On Songs from the Playhouse (the first TruWorship release aimed at preschoolers), kids join characters Chloe, Jack and Olivia as they enter the world of The Playhouse where the foundations of God's Truth are explored. Songs from the Playhouse is designed to help create environments for preschoolers to respond to the basic Truths of who God is both in the home (or car!) and in the church."

"What happens when ROCKHARBOR church, David C. Cook Publishing and Kingsway Music come together to re-imagine the kid's worship experience? The result is TruWorship's first release aimed at elementary students entitled Radio the World. Radio the World is a collection of eleven songs created specifically to help parents and churches create environments for kids to experience and respond to God. A mixture of current and original worship songs, Radio the World features production by Grammy and Dove award nominated producer/engineer, Paul Dexter and guest appearances by Tim Hughes, Crystal Lewis and Jody McBrayer (formerly of Avalon). With an energetic and current sound, Radio the World stands ready to revolutionize the elementary-aged worship experience"

yum!

Here's a super simple summery (is that a word?) recipe that is a big hit at our house. It comes from Woman's Day magazine, but there were no pics on the site, and I forgot to take one last time I made it!

Crispy tilapia with avocado pico de gallo

ingredients ::

• 1 firm avocado,chopped
• 1 cup purchased pico de gallo
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 tsp ea. chili powder,ground cumin and salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 1/2 lbs. tilapia fillets
• 3 Tbs oil
• corn on the cob
  

Stir avocado into pico de gallo and cilantro; set aside. Mix cornmeal and chili powder, cumin and salt on sheet of waxed paper. place milk in shallow bowl or pie plate. Dip tilapia fillets into milk,then cornmeal mixture to coat. Heat oil in large non-stick skillet over med. heat. Cook tilapia 2 to 3 mins. a side. Top with avocado mixture;serve with corn on the cob.

Honestly, I've skipped all the spices, and it was still great. I've even made it with bread crumbs instead of cornmeal which was equally as delish!

it's coming...

It comes every year at the same time...my birthday week! This year is a bit different for me though...I'm still on maternity leave! While I haven't been a part of the busyness that accompanies the weeks leading up to VBS (to any kids ministry people, you KNOW the week before the week before an event is always the worst!!), this still holds a very special place in my heart and I cannot wait to visit some sites with Micah, and to hear the stories that come out of this next week! If you know of anyone in the OC area with kids...send them over to the RH website for more info!

oh, BOY!!

We love our boy, and are thrilled to have friends and family who also have baby boys!

There's Micah's cousin Brody...
And his friend Landon ...


and his friend Ryder!
I love that our little guy has so many great friends already!

(and really, I need a better picture of Micah and Ryder...after all, they've been hanging out since they were in the womb!)

micah's many faces

Micah is getting SO big (in my eyes at least!) and we are loving the many funny and cute faces he makes...we are also LOVING his smile! Here are some of his faces ::

happy father's day!

Today, we're celebrating all of the amazing fathers in our lives. We are especially excited to celebrate Alex on his first father's day. I can't imagine a better daddy for Micah, and I can't wait to see their father-son bond grow as Micah grows! Happy Father's day Alex!

happy birthday!!

June 19th is a big day in our families...we celebrate three birthdays!! happy birthday to alex's mom, Karen...my dad, Rene...and our neice Sophia!

one month old

It's hard to believe that our little guy is a month old. He brings so much joy to our home, and I can't imagine life without him. We still look at him in amazement and feel so blessed to be his mommy and daddy.

He loves to eat...often! He is getting bigger by the minute. We can barely keep up with trying to guess how many ounces to feed him...there's no easy way to guess how much he needs since we're bottle feeding breast milk. We love how chubby his little cheeks are getting!

I am loving every day that I get to spend at home with him. We have a good little routine established, and it seems to make both of us happy :) Most days it's pretty easy going, and I try to get out of the house once a day even if it's just to go for a little walk. We always love when Alex gets home...having all of us together is the best.

We look forward to what each new day brings for our little family!

entertainment

home alone

Today is our second day home alone. We are so thankful for the 3 weeks we got to spend home as a family, and were definitely sad to see Alex go to work yesterday! i was going to try to be a little more productive yesterday (finish thank you notes...shop for a few things at target...get some photos ordered...) but then reality set in, and I wasn't actually able to cross anything off the list! Between feeding, changing, pumping, and washing supplies for feeding and pumping, that was my whole day! Day 1 flew by, and day 2 is doing the same! Micah has been pretty easy and I am thankful for that! Today I tried out both the Moby wrap, and the Baby Bjorn, and the little guy likes them both! Using them will definitely free me up some more!

Tomorrow we will attempt our first outing...lunch with the girls, and hopefully visiting a friend and her new baby!

finally!!

I meant to post some pics of Micah's finished room before he arrived, however little man was 8 days early and some things just didn't happen! We finished his room just a few days before he arrived, and I'm so thankful we were able to get it all done! I know we would have been fine had we not made a room especially for him, however, I have found that we spend SO much time in his room. Between rocking him, changing him, pumping for him, and folding/sorting laundry for him, we spend a ton of time in there, and it might just be me, but having a room that is inviting makes it a lot nicer to be in there so much!

our favs

We have a few products that we've been LOVING since bringing Micah home. We thought we'd share so you can fall in love as well...First is Dr. Bonner's Magic Soap...Baby Mild Liquid Soap. We received this as a shower gift. I put it in Micah's bath basket, and expected to try it eventually. Little did I know that it would become our best friend :) Our laundry detergent is all the way downstairs, and in the garage, so when Micah got some poop on his blanket, my mom grabbed this soap, and put a tiny bit on the stain (the bottle lists about 1,000 different uses for the soap, and laundry is one of them). After we washed the blanket and saw no sign of the stain, we kept using it! It has gotten out tons of baby poop, as well as egg yolk from one of Alex's shirts! We are in love...and we haven't even used it in Micah's bath yet!

I am loving the Dr. Brown's bottles. We tried switching Micah over to the Born Free bottles when we realized that nursing wasn't working, but I think the nipple lets more milk through than the Dr. Brown's, and the Dr. Brown's nipple is much smaller and I think he does so much better with these. I keep saying I, because Alex doesn't love all of the internal parts to clean, or the fact that we only have two of these...I'm not anticipating him being on these bottles for too much longer, but while he's still bitty, I like them!
Lastly, our little guy had his first round of really bad gas. We tried everything to soothe him, but nothing was helping. Let's just say it was a LONG night, and we felt like someone had switched our baby with another. Poor little man was SO uncomfortable, until we got some gas drops for him. We had a different brand than these, but they had the same active ingredient, and two doses later, we had a happy baby. We are thankful for great recommendations like these!

2 weeks old

Our little man is two weeks old...we are loving every minute that we have together as a family, and Micah and I are both sad that Alex will be going back to work on Tuesday. We'll definitely be looking forward to our three day weekends with him! Micah had a big week...he had his newborn photo shoot with the oh so talented Richelle Dante, and he had his two week check up! His pediatrician says he's gaining weight at a great rate! He's now weighing in at 8lbs. 1oz., and is 20.75 inches long. He's 50th percentile for weight, 60th for length, and 35th for his head circumference :)

Here are some pics from his newborn shoot. Richelle was SO good with Micah...waiting for a good long time before he stopped screaming! He was NOT happy about being naked, and did much better once we clothed him! Somehow, Richelle managed to get some great shots that we are in love with! If anyone needs a great infant photographer (or engagement, or wedding, or anything else!), Richelle is their girl! She's taken pictures of us a number of times, and we are always more than happy with them!


we love these 10 little toes!



cutest little face!


I wanted this bear hat picture SO bad! LOVE the hat!


This is one of our favorites and you can't even see his face!!



alex has been dreaming of this pose for so long!

our first week

Micah turned one week old on Wednesday, and had his first check-up on Thursday. He is gaining weight like a champ and is 1oz. over his birth weight. We are loving being a family of three now, and can't stop looking at our baby! during the day, we even try to have him nap in the living room so that we can just watch him! Some might say we're addicted to our baby...I guess we'll be joining Kit and Gina at addicts anonymous.

We're all adjusting pretty well. I had an infection that pretty much kicked my butt last weekend, but feel much better now...just an occasional headache to remind me to take it easy! Alex is a little more sleep deprived than I am because he does such a great job of trying to get me to rest. He is constantly trying to take care of me as well as Micah and I am so thankful for that. Can I just say that I LOVE watching him with Micah. He is such a hands-on dad, and it brings me so much joy to watch him with our son!
The hardest adjustment has definitely been feeding. While Micah loooves to eat, he has not wanted to latch...AT ALL. We have now seen multiple lactation consultants (including my sister!) and he knows how to do it, he just refuses. Honestly, he acts like we are torturing him when I even try to offer it to him! After many feedings and attempts at getting him to latch and MANY tears (from both of us...alex may have shed one or two as well while watching his baby freak out!!), we have decided to continue pumping and bottle feeding him breast milk. Thankfully I have a well established milk supply (too much in fact!) and can get my baby the nutrition even without the latch. It was not an easy decision for me. I had these pictures in my head of the way I wanted everything to be, and this was definitely not part of that picture. It was a very stressful and very emotional decision, but ultimately, I don't have it in me to let him go hungry unless he latches. I just couldn't do it. As it turns out, one of my nieces totally refused to latch also! My sister had already breastfed her oldest and assumed she would be fine with the second baby, but no, she never wanted to latch! Looks like the stubbornness runs in the family!

On the bright side, I had a great experience with our lactation consultant through Hoag. She called to check-in (Micah latched like a champ in her office, and then wouldn't latch again once we got home), and I told her what had happened since we'd been on our own. I was afraid she was going to make me feel guilty for not continuing, but she was nothing but very kind and affirming. She told me that some babies just don't take to it, and that we could keep trying and we could probably get him to do it, but that if I was emotionally drained, Micah would feel that and could potentially make it worse. She told me that she was proud of me for choosing to pump for him and that she was supportive of my choice. She let me know that if I need help with figuring out a pumping schedule or keeping up my supply, she would be there to help me!

Enough with the talking...here's some cuteness...

meet micah

micah alexander pavone. may 12. 7lbs 5oz. 20 inches

we are enjoying life at home with our baby boy. we might be biased, but we're pretty sure he's the cutest baby ever.

counting down...

We've got 11 days until my due date, and 4 days left of work. I would love to know when this little man is going to make his big debut, but I guess the waiting is part of the experience, right? Right now, I'm 2cm dilated and 60% effaced. I'm hoping that Micah will decide to come before the doc decides to induce me (1 week past my due date)!

baby showers

I had two other baby showers after the first! I had so much fun and felt SO loved :)

Unfortunately, I still haven't gotten pics from my sisters from one shower, but here are some from the shower that Karen and Nicole hosted for us. Again, my sister has some of my favorite pics, but I haven't gotten them from her yet!

In other Micah news, his room is 95% done...just a few things left to hang on the walls (that alex is designing and putting together as I type!) and that's it! I can't wait to post the finished pics...alex already posted the "almost finished pics" on facebook if you're dying to see the work in progress :)

new addition to the fam...

....and it's not Micah...at least not yet!

Alex and I had been patiently (or very impatiently) waiting to buy a new car for a looooong time. We both had cars that are/were 10+ years old. In particular, Alex's car had quite a bit of mechanical trouble over the past couple of years and we were tired of dropping money on a car that wasn't even worth what we put in! We were waiting for something permanent with Alex's temporary position to actually go ahead and start looking for a car...and on Friday, Alex got hired on!! I am so proud of him. He has done everything he could in the last two years to provide for our family, and I couldn't be more excited for him to have a job that he actually enjoys! Plus...that meant we could go car shopping!
After a little looking around online, we were sold...we went down to Carmax, talked numbers with our sales associate, and the next day test drove the car and left the lot with it!! Here are some pics of our new "fancy" car. When you've been driving around in either of our two cars, anything newer feels very fancy :)

Welcome to the family 2007 CR-V!

bigger and bigger...

My belly keeps growing and every time we take a new picture, I'm shocked by how much it grows in such a short time! It seems like it grew so gradually for so long, and now it's crazy big! Here's the latest shot...

t minus 6 weeks

I'm 34 weeks this week. It's crazy to think that my pregnancy is winding down, and soon our little man will be here. Now that Easter has come and gone (it was AMAZING by the way, I was just too exhausted to post!), we can finish prepping for Micah. Hopefully his room will be finished soon, and then after our last shower next week, we'll finish buying the things that are necessities. We already have a lot of non-necessities :)

He has clothes, wipes, and diapers, so we're doing well on the absolutes :)

Today, the confirmation of my pre-registration came...that was pretty weird. Our very good friends had their baby this week, and we've been tracking with them the whole time (6 weeks behind of course!) and now the next milestone for us to hit after them is just birth! That alone has been sending me spinning this week. I can't believe he's almost here! I can't wait to hold him!


*People have been wondering why I didn't register for diapers...and the reason is that we have NO idea which brand will fit him best, or if he'll have sensitive skin, or if his skin just won't want to tolerate a specific brand. We've been given a couple of different kinds (and I did register for one box), so we'll try them all and then decide which ones we want to go with. I would just hate to register for a ton of diapers in a particular brand and then be stuck with them if the baby has a reaction to them or something.

it's time...

IMG_6597
Originally uploaded by alexanderpavone

...to set up at the OC Fairgrounds for Easter weekend. This is my fourth Easter on staff and every year it gets easier. It's always a ton of work, but ALWAYS 100% worth it. It's the craziest time of the year, but it's also my favorite time! I was wondering how on earth I could manage this large of an event at 8.5 mos., but it honestly hasn't been that bad...we have a great team that is super supportive which is awesome! This afternoon/evening is our BIG set-up night. We're praying for no rain on our tents...we'd rather not have soggy carpet for our babies!!

I can't wait to have a giant tent full of preschoolers worshiping together!