7 Months...

Really? Has it been 7 months already??? I know I say this all the time, but time is seriously flying by faster than I ever imagined was possible!

Grant, you are becoming quite a little man these days- this is what you have been up to lately...

*you are wearing 6 month size clothes and a couple 3-6 month pants yet- you still have a tiny waste!

*you wear size 2 diapers during the day and 3 at night and we are still battling through your leaking night diapers (I am open to suggestions if anyone has any!)

*You do not stay in one place very long and are such a wiggle worm! You can twirl around to get what you want and you seem to be able to wiggle yourself into the funniest places, ie... under the TV stand. You must have thought it was pretty exciting because you couldn't stop laughing!

*you are really good at lifting yourself up and kicking your legs, but are just starting to figure out if you do them at the same time, it might help you move faster. I am pretty sure it is only a matter of days before you are crawling.

*you are always smiling and people always comment on what a happy baby you are.

*you are very expressive lately. The faces you make when you eat Cheerios and Puffs are priceless- you really do not like them at all!

*you still love to put everything you can into your mouth- take this sock for instance...

*you have 4 bottles a day and eat 2 jars of fruit, 2 jars of veggies and 6 T of cereal in a day and the occasional cherrio or puff that mommy tries to get you to eat!

*you sat up for the first time this month.

*you have become a much better sleeper- you go down around 8:30 and you don't get up until 7:30/8- this has been wonderful! I still can't get over how cute you are when you sleep with your butt up in the air!

*you have 2 new teeth coming in on top.

*you are very social and love to be the center of attention (very unlike your mother!). You get especially excited and smiley when you are around other kids- you are not shy at all even when it comes to other adults either.

Grant, we love you so much and can't wait to see what milestones this next month will bring!

Nursery

Today we will take a quick tour through the nursery. When we were pregnant with the girls, I had so many plans for their nursery. I had picked out their bedding, spent countless hours shopping for dressers to use as a changing table and had even ordered their cribs. When we were pregnant with Grant I knew that, although that room was now going to be his, I wanted to make sure that Brooke and Alexcyn had a presence there. Even though they never got a chance to sleep in that room, in my mind, it was still their room first.

Years ago when we started trying to get pregnant, I ordered this from Pottery Barn- I thought it would be fun in a nursery since there are always pictures, artwork, etc.. that you want to display. At the present time, it holds a onesie with Grant's initials and footprints, ultrasound pictures of Grant (YES, I need to update those!) and on the end, it has a name card for Brooke and Alexcyn and a picture of each of them. When Grant was still a tiny baby, there were times that the only place he would stop crying would be on his changing table. He would look up and instantly calm down and I always felt that his sisters were smiling down on him at those moments and filling him with peace.

The Willow Tree twins were a gift after we lost the girls and I just LOVE them! I feel that they are a wonderful reminder of the beautiful angels that are part of our family. And I love that they sit on a shelf looking over Grant and protecting him as he sleeps.

I just can't resist these baby blues...

Living Room

So sorry I have been an absent blogger lately. It just seems that life has been getting in the way and the blog is what I have neglected. I have also recently been struggling with what I should write on here. I know that I have a variety of readers including out of town family that loves Grant updates and pictures, bloggy friends that have had their rainbow babies and love to do baby comparisons, friends who are pregnant with their rainbow babies and friends that are struggling with infertility with their first baby or their rainbow baby. I never want to be that person who brags about her baby to those dealing with infertility, but I also know that my family wants updates on baby Grant so instead of figuring out what to write, I just haven't written! This blog has done amazing things for me over the last two years, so I decided it is time that I get back to it!

This week I have decided to take you all on a tour of my home. This is not going to be your typical house tour showing wall colors and cute decorations. This tour will give you a glimpse of everything in our home that reminds us of our journey over the past 4 years. Just because our lives are so full of happiness today, we will never forget what we went through and the two beautiful girls that we lost on our way to find this happiness. There are lots of little reminders all over our house of that journey and now, I will share them with you!

Today I am going to start in the living room....

This picture sits on a shelf in our living room/dining room area. It is a framed copy of the program that was handed out at Brooke and Alexcyn's funeral. On left side of it sits a little boy holding a balloon that says HOPE and in front of it lies three petite roses that came from the arrangement from the funeral.

After we lost the girls, we received many beautiful Willow Tree figurines from friends and family. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of places to display them all, so I change them out every so often to give them all a chance to shine!

I purchased this sign when we were struggling with infertility. To some, it might seem like a funny sign to have in a living room. But, to me it was such an important reminder that I am not in control. There were many times that I was angry and praying was the last thing I wanted to do. But, every time I would glance over and see this sign, I would hear this verse and it would calm my fears and help me give up that control. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

The last stop on the tour of our living room is a photo album of our dear Alexcyn which was given to us by the hospital where the girls were delivered. I can't say enough good things about the amazing nurses in the NICU that not only took the amazing pictures in the book, but took the time to put it together for us.

Stay tuned to see what other little reminders our house contains...

Home is a place not only of strong affections, but of entire unreserve; it is life's undress rehearsal, its backroom, its dressing room. ~Harriet Beecher Stowe

6 month pictures

Grant had his 6 month appt today. He weighs 15lbs 13.5 oz- 25% and is 26 inches long - 35%. His weight appears to have gone down since his ear re-check, but Dr S said that was not an accurate weight since he had all of his clothes on. Everything looked good and he handled his shots as well as he could for being really tired and hungry. The office had an emergency and we waited for about an hour so our timing was all thrown off. While I was waiting, I happened to overhear one of the front desk ladies trying to get a patient in for an appt on Monday morning. They were all booked up so she told the patient that they would squeeze him in at 8:00 a.m., but that he should be aware that no one would be up in the front and that the office would be really quiet because that is their prayer time. The patient was so happy. Not because they squeezed him in, but because they actually took time out of their busy Monday morning to pray together. As I sat there, 30 mins beyond my original appt time, I suddenly didn't care anymore that we had been waiting forever. I just felt proud to go to a dr that cared enough about his staff and his patients to take time to pray with them and for them! That was just so cool that I had to share it with you!

Below are Grant's 6 month pictures. He is starting to let me know just how much he hates my camera by looking down, looking to the side or just flat out screaming. So unfortunately, no smiles in these pictures but I still think they are adorable and I can't get over how handsome he looks!

Easter

What an amazing day we had celebrating Easter with Grant in our arms!

Only thing missing was two little girls all dressed up in their matching Easter dresses...

6 months!

I can not believe that 6 months ago (yesterday) we woke up in the hospital and heard the famous words, "you are going to have a baby today!" The last 6 months you have filled our lives with more joy and happiness than we ever imagined. When I think back to September 30, I can not even remember what life was like when it was just J and K.

This is what you have been up to this month...


*your 6 month appt isn't until next week, but at your ear re-check 2 weeks ago you weighed 16 pounds, 2 ounces


* you are quickly growing out of your 3-6 month clothes


*you have had a rough month health wise- your cold turned into a sinus infection and you were allergic to the antibiotic that we put you on!


*you laugh all the time now and sometimes we are not even sure what you are laughing at... you also smile and babble a lot and daddy even claims you said dada but I don't believe it!




*you are growing up to be such a big boy. You roll all over the place and typically the minute we put you down on your back, you roll over to your tummy. You have even started doing this in your crib as well!


*you still love to jump up and down in your jumperoo. You go crazy in there and sometimes I think you are going to jump right out of it!



*you love your solids. You have now eaten rice, oatmeal and whole grain cereals; as well as green beans, peas, squash, sweet potatoes and pears. You don't spit your veggies out, but you make sure I know you don't like them because you give me lots of "yucky" faces.

*you wear size 2 diapers but are quickly growing out of them as evidenced by your wet jammies the last few nights.


*you are very curious these days. You watch everything we do and you want to be a part of it. You love to put your hand under running water and you LOVE to pet/grab Jasper the cat! I am not sure Jasper is very thrilled about it, but I think it is pretty cute!

*I am not sure if your sleep is ever going to be consistent. Some nights you sleep for 10 hours, some nights you wake up every couple hours.


*you are not sitting up unassisted yet, but you do try to pull your head up when laying on the ground so I know it is just a matter of time before you see the world from a seated position.

We thank God every day for blessing us with you and we can't wait to see what the next 6 months bring!

We love you, Mommy and Daddy

(Not sure what was so funny here, but he would not stop laughing- it was so cute!)