5 weeks

If he is 5 weeks old, that means I only have 3 weeks till I go back to work! That makes me sad. I really am going to miss him so much when I am at work. I do have to say though, these past five weeks I have realized I couldn't be a stay at home mom.I love my son to death but I also love being a teacher. I went and spent some time with Mrs. Lana, Tilley's daycare person and I realized that she will be so good for him. She has a routine, she loves being there with the kids and he will have other kids to play with. While I was there she has the best behaved 4,3,2,1,8month old children I had ever seen. She has rules and she is consistent. I feel so good about leaving him with her. He truly will get so much more being with her than he would with me. I would spend more time trying to do house stuff or me stuff and not give him the stimulation he needs. This is her job, she wants and loves to give love to babies and children.

Don't get me wrong, in three weeks I am going to be a mess leaving my little sweetheart and not being at home to watch those smiles and hear those laughs but I know this is what is right for our family. A happy mom makes a happy baby.

Well he has changed so much in five weeks. Like the post before said he is starting to smile. In the morning he is all smiles and giggles. He loves to look around the room and see things. Matt will walk him around and you know he is taking it all in. He loves to watch Baby Einstein. These movies are freaky for adults but to an infant they are GREAT! He loves his swing still and also loves tummy time. His binki is still a necessity! He is growing so fast! Every time I pick him up he seems heavier and heavier. He is 11 pounds 14 ounces as of the scale I have at home. He hates laying on it so I am sure it is off a few ounces since he squirms on it but still!! He is starting to move his arms more purposefully. Before he would just throw them around and hit himself in the head, now he moves them it seems for a reason. I am really starting to figure his cries out. I know which ones mean he is mad at me for taking to long to get the milk out, I know which ones mean gas and pain, I know which ones mean pay attention to me. I love being able to figure him out when he needs me to. At night he is doing a great job of sleeping. He goes 3-4 hour stretches which is nice. Hopefully by the time school starts I will have moved him to his crib. That is also something I am not looking forward to. It is so easy to have him right there beside me, but I know the crib will be better for him, and the bassinet is getting a little cramped for him and me. So we will see!

All Smiles!

So Tilley has begun to smile! Now when they are baby babies they smile because of gas :)! He smiles now because he is happy! It is so amazing to watch these little milestones be reached. He is starting to coo and gurgle. Here are a few pictures that I captured this morning. They are blury because he is also a wiggle bug in the morning!

1 Month Old

Wow!! Tilley is one month old! (Actually it is the 20th when he is a month, but I am counting by weeks and he is 4 weeks old!) He is growing like a weed! I weighed him on the scale we borrowed from Erin and he is already 11 pounds! I know it is crazy how big they get! He can actually wear the clothes that say 3-6 months. They are a little big but still, he can fill them out!

He is starting to make cooing sounds and he gurgles more. He is starting to smile more and when someone is talking he will turn his head in that direction. When we have tummy time he will lift his head and turn when I move from one side to the other. He loves to kick his legs. He loves to eat! That is one thing this boy gets from Matt and I. He is like clock work, I will look at the clock and it has been exactly three hours and the boy could be in a dead sleep and wake up instantly to eat! It is amazing how they work!

We went to the park with all the Millbrook Moms and it was a blast. He slept the whole time. It was so nice to get out of the house and hangout with all the other moms! This week we are going to visit Laura and Abby and Aunt Elizabeth is coming to visit! It will be so much fun!

Next week is our first travel week. I am already starting to think about what we are going to have to pack. I am a little worried about not being in the comfort of our own home. When throwing a baby into the mix things can get tricky. So just pray for us and I have to keep telling myself to relax.

So I have a dilema, we had prof. pictures taken of Tilley and I want to buy them all. It is so hard to choose just a few. Matt is freaking out because of the cost but I feel that these pictures are so special, and when it comes time to take more we won't have to buy frames because I plan on switching some of the pictures out. I have to decide by this week because she takes down the gallery so hopefully I can narrow down my choices.

Something Higher Than Us

I vividly remember the day I called my dad when I was around 25 weeks pregnant in tears. I was driving home and all I could think about was all these lost souls that didn't believe in our God. I thought about all those moms out there that have children that don't believe. I was tearing up because how could you NOT believe that there is something higher than us. As I watch Tilley grow into this little guy, and I look back at our first ultrasound picture I am amazed. There is nothing in this world that we as humans create as perfect as a human being. Only God could create something so perfect. As my friend Gwen said, "It should be norm, that we have abnormal children because of how many little pieces have to fall into place for a child to be born perfect." I agree with her, for all the babies in the world that are born perfect, think about all the pieces that have to fall into place at exactly the right moment for this person to be born. Having a child is truly the everyday miracle. If you are someone who is lost, please think about this and think about our father. He is the creator, he is the creator who loves you unconditionally! How could you not believe in our father when these little beings are born so perfectly.

No pictures...just random thoughts

Well I do have to say motherhood was a lot different then I expected. You have so many different ideas of what motherhood would be like before it gets here and when it is here you were so off with what you thought. I never expected to fall in love so fast and so hard to a being that I just met. I know he was in my belly for nine months but these past three weeks I have fallen so in love with such a small person I sometimes am overwhelmed with emotions just looking at him. Last night he was fussy and my mom was trying to calm him and finally after everything she passed him to me and instantly he stopped crying. He opened his wide eyes and just sighed as if to say, that's what I wanted...my momma. That was the most amazing feeling ever! I never knew how empty I was until I had him. Don't get me wrong, that word empty wasn't a feeling I had before him. I have an amazing husband who I love more than anything in the world, but when Tillman entered my life I felt full. Watching the man that I love hold his son and talk to him and kiss him makes me full. I didn't know I was empty so it didn't dawn on me until little man got here.

I also do have to say, that the part of motherhood that I didn't expect was falling in love with my husband all over again. We have been married almost five years. We have been together for 7 which is hard to believe. We love each other and we def. make an effort to show each other whenever we can but this love I have for Matt now is so different then before. Watching him with his son melts my heart. I carried this little being for him and brought this little guy into the world for us and watching him love on him and fall in love with him makes me as his wife fall head over heels for him. Matt has always been a softy when it comes to expressing his love for me, but watching him love his son and the feeling it gives me, is the part of motherhood I never expected. When I look at our family portrait I just tear up because that is what we are..a family!

Matt leaves for VA Monday. This will be our first week alone. I want to say it will be harder for me, but I really believe that it will be one of the hardest things to do for Matt. Like I said in the post before, he grows so fast and this week that Matt is gone, our son will continue to grow. He is going to miss this week and I know in his heart he is crushed. He loves his son so much...it is going to be really hard for him. I am going to keep myself busy but I am going to miss Matt so much! Even though Tilley relies on me for a lot, having Matt there to hug me, rub my shoulders or just to listen when I need him makes a world of difference. I think the hardest time will be at night since I am tired and with reflux Tilley sometimes doesn't want to go back to sleep and Matt will bounce him around until he feels better. So just keep us in your prayers this week.

We are going to visit family the last week of July. I am so excited to go and see everyone. It will be T Mans first long trip. I will def. take pictures and let everyone know how it goes.

I do have to say..I am one blessed woman! I have to say, my life is complete! I have everything I have ever dreamed of and more!

Three Generations!

So the last few days we have been very busy in the Whisenant house. In the middle of the week we had my grandma and her husband come visit. It was so sweet because they won't be around for forever and I was worried that they may never get to meet him. They came and spent the night and it was so sweet to watch MY grandma rock her great grandson! One of those moments I won't forget.


Along with my grandma coming to visit, Tilley's grandmother came for a visit. My mom rode her motorcycle up Saturday and spent the night. She must have held him for four hours straight last night. He is one spoiled rotten little boy ;)! She was in heaven. She was supposed to leave around 12:00 today but she couldn't stop holding Tilley. She just wanted to stay forever. It is the coolest feeling watching your mom hold your son! Again it was one of those moments I will always remember!

3 weeks old

Well I do have to say I am not liking this "Time flies when having fun!" statement. I do have to say these have been the most amazing best three weeks of my life...but...they have flown by. My son is one week away from being a month old and he is growing like a weed.

Well we are officially out of newborn clothes. There are some I still put on him as long as the hands and feet can pop out and it buttons up the front because if it has to go over his punkin (I know I spelled pumpkin wrong :)) head then it won't fit. The other ones look kind of funny since his arms and legs hang out. I still can't believe that he is three weeks old. Ever moment is a moment that I want to savor and remember forever! Each day he starts to look more and more like a little man than a little baby! I am amazed at how much he looks like Matt.

His hair is starting to fall out. It is really funny to watch because the top is falling out but the sides and back is hanging on for dear life. He is starting to look like an old man because he is bald on top and has hair in the back. Matt doesn't like it when I laugh at him. He looks so cute!

We gave him a full fledged bath today and it went really well. We tried something different than the first time. The first time he got cold and hated it. This time we put the infant tub in the bath tub and I had a stool I sat on. We filled the tub and let the water continue to run so it kept it warm. We also lowered the net thing that holds him so he was in the water more. He loved it, not one tear was shed..until we took him out to dry him off...he SCREAMED!! It was a success though so I am excited he likes water! :)

Grandma Why?

So when Tilley was born everyone, even I, thought he looked just like Matt. His cheeks, eyes and face overall looked just like him. Then when Matt's mom brought his baby pictures out, it was stunning how much they looked alike. Well when grandma came to visit last she brought Matt's coming home outfit. She wanted me to take a picture of Tilley in it before he grew out of it so she could have one of him and one of Matt. Needless to say this outfit isn't your everyday onsie. It is def. 27 years old. :) It was a little stiff and not for a babies enjoyment. Aunt Katie and I were having Tilley's home photo shoot so we went ahead and put the outfit on him and as you can see from the pictures it went from ok to bad! :)

Everything was fine and dandy, then I started to realize what in the world I was wearing!

TAKE THIS OFF OF ME OR ELSE!

I TOLD YOU, OR ELSE!! HERE IT COMES!!!

2 Weeks Old!

Well our son has reached the two week mark! TIME FLIES!! I really am trying to savor this time with him, but when I look at the calendar all I can think about it is how fast it is going by! I do have to say though at night when I am tired I do wish that we could skip this part and get to the sleeping longer at night;)!

We had our two week check up and things looked great! He gained a whole pound since the last time we were there. He was born 9.6 but when we were discharged he was 8.11. When we went to the ped. 24 hours later he was 8.10. So needless to say he had a lot of gaining to do. Yesterday he was 9.10 so that was a good sign. They want them back up to their birth weight but the 2 week mark. Everything else checked off. He does have a little strawberry they want to watch on his belly. She measured it so that when he grows we can keep an eye on it.

While we were there I talked to her about gas because I thought Tilley had been gassy for the past two days. I thought maybe because I had eaten eggs and they give me gas, that he was gassy from them also. When I described the symptoms I was seeing, she said it could be gas but also could be reflux. She showed me a diagram of the stomach and explain reflux to me and what the symptoms looked like. It seemed to me that he was showing those signs more so then the signs of gas. So she sent us home to watch it and see if he continues to show them days after I ate the eggs. Yesterday I called them and we went back in because the poor boy is suffering. He arches his back, cries spontaneously, constantly is trying to swallow something, and you can tell he is in pain when he cries. They gave us baby Zantac to help with the reflux. Hopefully the medicine will kick in because he doesn't want to sleep because the acid will come back up and it hurts. So last night was a long night.

Big Sister

So our "first born" is definintly having trouble with the lack of attention she is getting the past week or so. She went from the center of our world to not so much! She still gets love but she is so used to being able to lay in our lap, or just start up a game of tug of war. Now with the baby we have to plan it so we aren't holding him to be able to play with her. Her cousin Scout came up for the weekend and wore her tail out! She was so sad when he left. The other night I capture her with dad and Tillman lounging around. Even though she is said and lacking attention she is still a great big sister and I know when he gets older she will have tons of fun with him!

Tummy Time

Well our son has some pretty strong neck muscles! He bounces that head around all the time! At the begining Matt was so nervouse to hold him belly to belly because he would try to lift his head and because he really couldn't control it, it would fall to the left or right and Matt would get so worried. Now he is much more comfortable but it definitly scares him every once and awhile.

Well we got this really cool mat that has a mini boppy on it and some toys so when we do tummy time he has something to lay on. It also is nice because you know me, my house is a wreck and that means he isn't laying on my unvacumed carpet that has dog hair all over it! :)

Here are two pictures of tummy time (even though on isn't on his tummy :)) He doesn't last long before he cries but we are working on it! :)

Tilley's Home Photo Shoot

Today Aunt Katie and I took some photos of Tilley for his birth announcements. We got some really cute ones! I hope the announcement will look good!