seth :: nine months

my boy, you are 3/4 of a year old, and man are you hitting some milestones! i was away from you overnight for four days right when you turned 9 months, and when i came home, you had sprouted 2 more teeth and had pulled yourself up to standing. you are still army crawling which is so dang cute! that doesn't mean you're slow though...you get where you want to go SO fast!

you are a butterball of sweetness. you love your family so much and race to the door whenever mama or daddy comes home. you give the best welcome home snuggles!

you are eating tons of solids now. still some breastmilk, and formula. you're picky with the formula and will only eat it if you're suuuuuper hungry. stinker. you like all the food you've tried, and the white bean pumpkin puree is your fave.

you measured in at a whopping 23 pounds and 31 inches! you are already in your big boy carseat and seem to like it just fine. dr. brown said that you are perfect, and i can't argue with that. you didn't even cry when you got your shot.

you and your brother are quite the pair. you like to wrestle with micah and daddy and are not a pushover. you yell to let him know you don't like it if he's too rough, but you give him a decent amount of rough back ;) you're playing together better although i have to keep a very close eye or micah might try to sit on you. generally you just roll with the punches and are very mellow.

happy 9 month little man, we love you!

seth: eight months

seth,
   eight months just feels SO big to me! your personality is developing more everyday and it's SO fun to be your mama! you love to army crawl around and be everywhere all the time. you will scoot your way over to a basket of toys, knock it down, and then sit up to play with the toys. What a big accomplishment! the first time you did it, i almost burst into tears because it just felt like such a big boy thing to do.
   you are sweeter than sweet....except when your brother takes a toy away, then you let him know that you have a voice even if you can't say words! little man, you are an eating machine and taking in a breakfast, lunch and dinner of solids every day! you're sleeping a little less at night, but i still can't complain as it's still a great amount of nighttime sleep...even if mama is a little more tired these days! you are still obsessed with your papa and when i'm at work, you spend most of your day playing with him. you light up when he comes into a room and cry when you can hear his voice but can't see him. it melts my heart. i love you little man!

seth: seven months

oh my boy, what a month is has been! we celebrated your first christmas, and you were a champ staying at yaya and papa's! i mean, look at that smile!! it really doesn't get any cuter than that! you are still the happiest and sweetest baby...i'm starting to think that's just who you are! you are definitely starting to assert yourself and let us know when you're not happy, but it's still so darn cute because you really didn't cry for the first 6 months of your life. it had to end some time, right? You sit up pretty well, but mama is still nervous to leave you on your own...you may or may not have fallen over on the hardwood floor. Let's just say we now surround you with pillows to be safe!

you're on the move! you army crawl exactly how your brother did, and it is just so cute! you get so excited to scoot around and be able to get things! you're still pretty slow, but it won't be long before you're everywhere! no more teeth yet, but you now love food and eat solids twice a day! you've tried so many types of baby food and love all of it! you love flavor so we add cinnamon and other spices to your food and you gobble it up! 

seth, i can't imagine our lives without you. your brother isn't the nicest to you all the time, but he loves you just like we do! happy 7 months little man! 

seth :: six months

seth,
   at 6 months old,you are as sweet as ever. you are such a great baby. you sleep well (that's an understatement!), you eat well, and you're are generally just such a happy boy! at 5.5 months, we noticed that you were flying through bottles and were drinking SO MUCH milk so I started offering you food. your first food was avocado just like your big bro. you weren't as into it as your brother was, but you were also younger when we started. i backed off a little because you weren't very excited about it, but after a little while you started devouring it! i don't think it will be long before you are having 3 meals in addition to your bottles! you cut your first tooth this month, the day after Thanksgiving.The next day you cut another one right next to it! You still love to roll around and you're spending more time on your tummy which makes me think that you're going to be on the move very soon! your 6 month stats are pretty impressive, 29 inches and 20.5 lbs. You're the size of a small one year old! you're definitely not lacking in the baby chub, and that's just the way i like it! you absolutely love to watch your brother goof around, but you're also pretty good at letting us know when you've had enough of him! Ha! we love you so much little man, and we can't wait to celebrate your first Christmas!

happy half birthday seffers!

happy half birthday to my littlest love! seth, you bring so much joy to our lives. the past 6 months have flown by and i can hardly remember what it was like to not have you in our family. we love you so much and can't wait to see what the next 6 months are going to be like!

seth :: five months

oh, my love. this guy is still the definition of sweetness and is SUCH a happy boy. he's content doing just about anything and will entertain himself pretty much anywhere. he's just as sweet to the nursery workers at CBS and the volunteers at church. he sucks his thumb like a champ which is how he soothes himself back to sleep when he wakes up early :) he rolls around on the floor and has an interest in toys now. the time is FLYING by and i can hardly believe that next month he'll be half a year old!!

*seth was 5 months on nov. 3rd, but mama forgot to push "publish!: oops!

seth :: four months

this baby kills me. kiiiiillllllssss me. i mean, look at that smile! look at those cheeks...that tongues....those thighs! my big baby just melts me. he still has the sweetest disposition ever. EVER. he's much more social now. he laughs all the time, and when he gets on a roll, he'll "talk" for an hour straight! he loves his brother even though his brother gives him lots of reasons not to. he lights up when he catches sight of any of us. the sweetest i tell you! he's still doing really well while i'm at work. he's funny though, he doesn't eat as much as normal when we're both at work, and he sleeps a ton more than when we're here. it's like he's hibernating until we get home. He got checked in to church and bible study and was a total champ...not that i doubted him. he's laughing a ton and rolls over onto his tummy the second we lay him down. he also officially is a thumb sucker. we really fought against it, but he's determined. i'm not looking forward to trying to keep his thumb clean when he starts crawling, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there (i've heard thumb sucking babies tend to get sick more often. boo). he will still take a pacifier, but when he's asleep or hungry he starts sucking his thumb. he's out of the swaddle blanket because he rolled over in it and got stuck! thankfully he has great head control and was fine, but he wasn't as attached to the swaddle as micah and transitioned to sleeping without it just fine. again, not that i doubted him....he is a champ after all. this baby is just too good.

i am so excited to be heading into the holiday season with this guy, but i sure wish time would slow down!

seth :: three months

this was a big month for my baby boy. laughing started in full force, he is cooing and "talking" and he started moving all around. on the eve of turning three months, our little man gave us a scare by falling off our bed. We were scared and i didn't sleep hardly at all that night. oh, and i went back to work the next day!! so, this month started with a bang! seth handled the transition of me going back to work  like the champ that he is. he was super sweet and mellow for my parents, and is still generally a very chill little guy. when laying on his back, he scoots himself backwards by kicking his legs and he can almost roll over. if he would just move one leg a little he would make it over, but he doesn't :) our dr doesn't do 3 month appointments so we will have to wait another month to find out where this guy is on the infant charts, but my guess is that he's still off the charts! 

seth :: two months

At two months, our littlest man is still such an easy baby. He rolls with the punches and is so easygoing. He cries when he's hungry, has a poop diaper, or when he gets too hot. That's it. No joke. He has started playing on the activity mat that Micah just loved as a baby. He smiles a ton now, and coos at us during his awake time. He bats at his toys and is just such a joy.

He's been wearing size 3 months (in most brands) for a few weeks now and I actually packed away the newborn size a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't expecting him to grow out of them that soon, but he's a BIG guy! As far as his features, I think he looks a whole lot different from Micah at this age. We'll see how that changes as he grows.

Speaking of Micah, he mostly adores his baby brother. He wants to hold him and kiss him and he is always holding his hand in the car. He has hurt his little brother a couple of times which breaks my heart, but I'm hoping that the last time was enough to scare him into being gentle!

Seth's biggest achievement (in my opinion) so far is that he has slept 7-8 hour stretches since August 1st! Because I'm pumping and Alex is a night owl, he gives him a bottle before I go to bed which means i can go to sleep after my last pump and not wake until Micah gets up!!! That means I have gotten 8+ hours of sleep for almost a week now. Amazing! Both boys have been napping at the same time in the afternoon for about a month. Micah will sleep about 2 hours, and Seth will go for 3 or 4. We're in sleep heaven over here.

6 week stats.

He's been smiling since 5 weeks. One whole week of smiles so far and we're loving it. He is off the growth chart for his length (24 in.) and over the 90th percentile for his weight (12lbs 10oz). I guess I just make really BIG babies! So far, he's bigger than Micah was which makes sense since he was a whole pound and 2 oz. larger at birth! Just a fun little comparison...

Micah
at birth :: 7lbs. 5 oz // 20.5 inches
2 weeks :: 8 lbs. 1 oz. // 20.75 inches
6 weeks :: 11lbs. 3 oz. // 22.75 inches

Seth
at birth :: 8lbs. 7 oz // 20 inches
2 weeks :: 9lbs. 7 oz. // 21.5 inches
6 weeks :: 12 lbs. 10 oz. // 24 inches

pumping 2.0

alex laughing at the insane amount of extra milk i made each day with micah.
this was when micah was 2 months old. 

I didn't think I would be exclusively pumping this time around. i thought I would get the hang of nursing this time and only pump for work. I was wrong.

Seth did great at nursing the first evening and the entire next day, and I thought it was going to be smooth sailing. Then, they took him for his circ when he was supposed to eat. Then they brought him back and told me not to expect him to nurse for 6 hours. After 10 hours (yes TEN hours) of not eating, he had forgotten how. His great latch was gone and we had trouble the rest of the time we were in the hospital. Then, as if we weren't struggling enough in the nursing department, he got jaundice which makes babies super sleepy. Great.

The jaundice was actually the deciding factor for me. He wasn't transferring much milk. He was losing weight and the levels were getting worse. Know what gets the bilirubin out? Lots of eating. So, as his bilirubin numbers were climbing, the doctors (yes, multiple because all of this was happening on a weekend so he was given sick visits with the on call doctors to test his blood) advised us to supplement with formula to help move the bilirubin out. At this point, they were thinking he was going to have to be admitted to the hospital to be under the lights. I was willing to do anything to keep my boy at home with us so we not only supplemented with formula but moved to all formula, and I started pumping. Again.

During the two weeks he was on formula, I froze a LOT of milk. hundreds of ounces. My body is really good at making the milk ;) Once Seth's bilirubin level was low enough to stop the blood tests, we put him back on breastmilk and I decided not to keep trying to nurse. It probably seems weird to people, but it's my normal. It's the way I know how to do this whole feeding an infant thing. I'm used to it and honestly, it's a little freeing. Alex and I can trade off feeding whenever I need a break and I don't have to worry if I have frozen milk. When he needs to eat every hour because he's having a growth spurt, I can sleep and let Alex take some of the feedings. On weekends, I sleep straight through the night. It's glorious!

I learned a lot by EPing last time. I learned a lot about my body and also a lot of tricks to make things easier on me and our family. I know from last time that I tend to be an overproducer, so this time, I'm purposefully trying to only make what he drinks and instead of freezing an insane amount of milk every day, we only freeze one bag of milk every few days. It was great to be able to give away milk last time, but there's a cost to that...mainly, time. I pump for less time because there's not as much milk to get out. I pump less times a day because I don't need the milk of 8 pumps, right now I only need the milk from 6 pumps. When I go back to work, Seth will work on the freezer stash I already have, and we will replace it with the milk I pump at work.

One thing that is different this time is that I am not at all stressing about how much milk I'm making. If my shortcuts end up costing my supply in the long run and we supplement with formula, I'm totally okay with that. I'm not going to make myself a basket case just to make sure that Seth has 100% breastmilk. I have nothing to prove to anyone and I know that I got caught up in trying to prove people wrong last time. People will think what they want, but Alex and I know we're doing what's best for our family. I will also say that I have the most supportive hubby who never complains about washing bottles or pump parts because he's just as invested in the pumping as I am. He wants me to keep going and let's me know he appreciates it...what a winner!

newborn/one month photos

when seth came home from the hospital, his jaundice levels went up really high. scary high, actually. his skin and eyes were very yellow and he had to have daily blood tests for more than a week after we got home. because all of that was going on, i felt overwhelmed by the thought of taking him for his newborn photo session on top of the daily doctor trips. i ended up canceling his session with the photographer i had booked...thank goodness it was a friend who understood!

now that the jaundice has cleared, alex took some things from around the house to stage some great shots. it really helps to be married to a photographer! we may not have gotten as many as we would have at his shoot, but i love having some staged shot of him as a tiny baby still!

seth :: one month

our first month with seth flew by. he's been the most easy going little man. he even smiled for his one month picture! He has only smiled at us a couple of times, but it's so cute when he does! He's eating a ton and only barely makes it to two hours before he needs to eat again. sometimes it feels like he eats every hour! he likes the moby wrap, and loves his swing, but loves to be held more than anything!

we are venturing out most days...mostly because i feel like i'll lose my sanity if i don't. our new stroller has been a life saver. i can do quick trips to the store with both boys and it doesn't feel overwhelming.

life with two has been a lot simpler than we had anticipated. we are adjusting well minus the cold that all 4 of us got last week. we're all better, just seth is still holding on to it, but he is definitely on the mend. we love our little man so much and can't wait until he gets better. we're looking forward to lots more smiles and coos in the next month!

baby number two.

(34.5 weeks. photo by @alexanderpavone)

there has definitely been a lack in blogging. i was kind of over it, but i love the monthly updates I have from micah's first year and i'm hoping to do the same thing for baby number two. so, i'm back. 

we are exactly 3 weeks out from my due date. that means that our baby is full term! we are hoping that our little seth will make his entrance into the world at least a little early! 

this pregnancy has been a beast. i think i was spoiled with my first pregnancy. micah's pregnancy was pretty much a dream. mild nausea in the first trimester. a little round ligament pain at the end. some swelling in the last month. nothing terrible. this time has been a whole different ball game. crazy nausea and vomiting the first 14 weeks coupled with total exhaustion that lasted well into my second trimester. round ligament pain started pretty much as soon as i had any sort of baby belly. which means a long time ago. and it's only gotten worse. i've tried multiple pregnancy bands and supports, but have found little relief. basically, my whole second and third trimesters have been nothing but pain. poor micah has had such boring days for our days together, but sometimes just standing is more than i can handle. my mom has been wonderful about helping me and giving me breaks to just rest. 

even though this pregnancy was way harder than the first one, it's still amazing that after the pain and the nausea, we will have another beautiful baby boy. we are so looking forward to meeting our little man and introducing him to his amazing big brother. his clothes are washed, the hospital bags are packed. friends are on standby to be with micah while we head to the hospital, now all that's left to do is wait. 

we wait with joyful anticipation of what's to come. there will be sleepless nights and tantrums from micah for sure, but there will also be a sweet baby boy added to our family. i can't wait. 

three.

my boy is three. THREE. three is big. three is no longer in the nursery at church. three. THREE.

micah, 

     at three, you kill us with how funny you are. your sense of humor is amazing and we love that you crack yourself up! you are still obsessed with driving your cars and playing with keys. you ride your trike around our house all.day.long. you take the corners like a champ and leave us amazed. As my belly is growing with your baby brother, you have been so sweet to me. Many times we can't do what you want because I'm not feeling up to it, and you are usually so sweet about it.
     i love the way you love being with your daddy. you go on adventures together most saturdays while i'm at work, and i love seeing the pictures of you loving life with your daddy. Your favorite places to go are the park and the beach, and daddy loves to take pictures both places so it works out well.
     your outgoing personality is still there, although you've taken to being "shy" when you first see people. you love people and you love talking to new people everywhere. you make friends at the park, at target, and everywhere else we go. you get so excited to see your family and friends and you're pretty much obsessed with your grandparents and cousins.
     this year you have grown up so much. there are only a few words left that need translating. Most of your speech is so clear. you're so smart and quick that it amazes us. you're amazing with puzzles and we love to make puzzles together (i love that it's something that i can still do with you during my last month of pregnancy) and you have so many that you're great at. this year also brought a big first for you...your first sleepover! you've stayed at gongi and papa's house a few times now and you love it. you get mad when you have to come home! You're mostly potty trained and are such a big boy. we tried the big boy bed this year, but you just weren't ready. we'll try again soon.
    you love church and love telling me what you learned and what songs you sang. you still love when we sing to you at night, and even with my big belly, we love to snuggle up in the "rock rock" chair and songs before bed.
    We are so looking forward to this next year with you and can't wait to watch you as a big brother! happy birthday my little man, your mama loves you more than you will ever know!

we're still here.

i've realized that i'm terrible at documenting our family life. i'm not a scrapbooker. i don't take a lot of pictures, and apparently, i can't get in a rhythm with blogging. the good thing is, alex is great at getting pictures of micah. we may not have many family pictures from all of the fun things we do, but little man's life is well documented. oh, and if you have instagram you should definitely be following him :)

anyway, micah is almost 2.5 and he's amazing. he's definitely not the kid i imagined having when i was pregnant with him. he's not cuddly and i totally am. he doesn't like to read anything except Goodnight Moon, and i love so many different kids books (ive had a library of kids books in the garage since college). he loves to be outside, and i love to be inside. he's a total extrovert and needs to be around other people while i am totally content to be home alone for days on end. sigh.

i don't know what made me think that i wanted or needed a carbon copy of myself, but i did. now, i can't imagine my life any other way. i love that God gave me this little person who challenges me and pushes me outside of my comfort zone. just by being his awesome self, i am pushed and stretched in good and really healthy ways.

at nearly 2.5, micah is still a ball of energy. he is confident, and outgoing. he loves people and talks about everyone we know ALL THE TIME. oh, the talking. it's so good. i love knowing what he is thinking and helping him verbalize emotions. the whole talking thing is SO helpful. he loves to sing and dance, and he finally likes church! well, he's always liked church, he just now likes his classroom :)

my favorite thing about this age is how much his tender side comes through. he's a rough and tumble boy who has such a sweet heart. my prayer is that we can help him know how special that is and how he can use that to help and encourage others. just the other day, i was upset about something and i started crying. i was sitting on the couch and he was playing pretty close to me. when he noticed that i was crying, he said, "mama cwying...mama need nie nies (blankies)." he then went to his room and brought me all of his nie nies. way to get to my heart kid. in that moment, he saw that i was sad and tried to comfort me with what brings him comfort. just kill me, it's too good!

so that's a glimpse into our life right now. there is so much good, i am overflowing with joy. it's a great place to be and a great thing to document for once ;)

a day in the life.

my hubby is creative. i love when his creativity captures something that i just would never be able to do on my own...which is most of the time :) yesterday he dusted off the "real" camera and documented a day in the life of micah. i died when i saw it. so much of what i want to remember about this age...his sweet voice saying "good morning," the way he holds his nie nie (blankie) while he drinks his morning milk, his love of the beach, his obsession with popsicles, and so much more. i'll just let you watch...because it's wonderful.
a day in the life of micah from Alexander T. Pavone on Vimeo.

my boys.

all of these photos were taken by friends that alex met through instagram. i love that these people are now a part of our lives and that they have taken time to capture my loves.

@mattbg

@kdkuiper

@kdkuiper

@christianflorin

@simply_alicia

@christianflorin

@kdkuiper

@dathangraham

@christianflorin

@christianflorin

summer.

our summer is coming to a close and while it has been super fun, i'm looking forward to more of a routine in our lives. tonight, someone asked me what time micah goes to bed, and i had to stop and think about it because it's been really hard to get him to bed on time this summer! here are some snapshots of our fun days and long summer nights...

picnic dinner in newport

micah being one of the IG guys :)

playdate at the park with his cousins

the fair with gongi and papa

another beach day with daddy

backyard silliness

another instagram beach day with daddy

chomping on some watermelon in the backyard

akex and his buddy Tim from MN...yes, they met through instagram!

micah and his sweet friend kenzie on the top of mt. roubidoux

s'mores by the fire at hume lake

so much good.

Last week was one for the record books in our little family. The kind that makes me want to use capital letters because I know that this is going to be an important post for me to remember :)

Last week was VBS. To say it was wonderful would be an understatement. We had 39 sites across orange county. Five other churches were involved either by hosting their own sites, or coming alongside one of ours. The stories coming out of last week's VBS are God sized and we are SO thankful. So that's how I spent my mornings and early afternoons...traveling from site to site collecting stories and encouraging leaders. I get to have somewhat of a bird's eye view and I love that.

VBS came off of one weekend and led straight into another so to say I was tired by the end of each day would also be an understatement. This kind of decentralized VBS leaves you a whole different kind of tired. It's hard to explain, but it's an all encompassing kind of tired. I was thankful that my parents were able to be with Micah each day and he was down for a nap each day when I got home :)

Alex had his own kind of awesome happen last week also! A group of guys called the Pilgramers came through town and were here for a couple of days. We were thankful to get the chance to meet them, and I am not exaggerating when I say that they were some of the most down to earth, humble, fun people to be around (for more info about who they are and what they do, click here). One of the guys, Tim, decided his travel time was up, and he was going to cut his trip short to head back to his family a week early. He ended up getting a flight out Sunday evening which meant that we were able to meet up with him and some new friends a few times before he left.

The people we met are all people that Alex knows from Instagram. It was crazy. So many new friends, and a community that is strong, Jesus loving, and super creative. I love it! I may or may not have mocked alex about Instagram in the past, but believe me when I say that won't be happening anymore. Online friends have become real life friends. Our families are connecting, and most importantly, my hubby is finding a place where he feels like he belongs and has so much to offer and learn all at the same time.

With all that good last week, we entered this week tired, but full. Life is good.