I haven't forgotten about the blog...

So sorry for being so horrible at posting over the last 16 months. So much life has happened that I haven't been able to get on here to type it all up. I do have about 7 posts started that I hope to finish so this will be an overview.

So where to start...
 It looks like my last post was when I started back to work around Thanksgiving 2011!

Christmas 2011
We had a great time with family sharing our new joy filled baby with everyone. He slept through the night for almost a month for us (great way to start back to work!). We loved his teacher at daycare and I tried to make the best of going back to work. I really missed being with him everyday (however there were days that he was fussy and I was glad that I had help through daycare).

Spring 2012
Nathaniel continued to grow and change and surprise us in many ways. He loved eating when we started giving him cereal and baby food. Due to stress at work and new life with a baby and a unfortunate growing relationship with the "pump", we had to move to formula to keep me sane (if that is possible). Nathaniel was a cute little lamb in his daycare's Easter program. We had fun taking pictures of him sitting in a basket and playing on the blanket in the backyard.
Matt and I discussed (and prayed endlessly) the possibility of me leaving work and joining him in his work at home and taking care of Nathaniel.

Summer 2012
At some point our baby started to be more mobile and decided that climbing the stairs was lots of fun! He became a pro at climbing up and down the stairs.
Matt and I felt that God was leading us to being home together and so I put in my notice at work. Ardent was a great place to work for 8 years and I will always remember that they gave me a chance when I was just starting out in Accounting and I was able to fulfill my job requirements and to go above and beyond in learning in the field. I will miss the relationships that were built there and will miss the aspects of Accounting, but I know that being home with Nathaniel is where I need to be at this point in life. I am able to keep up my Accounting skills by continuing to work at Harvest Hands and working with Matt and the ministry.

Birthday time, let's celebrate!
At the end of August and beginning of September, we celebrated Nathaniel's big day! We ended up deciding to have two birthday parties to help me keep my sanity (again, is that possible?). :) We are fortunate that our families get along together, but having 30+ people in our house was more than I could handle for this birthday party. :) I wasn't sure how Nathaniel would react to so much attention too and I have heard other Mom's say that parties can be overwhelming for little ones and I honestly didn't want to deal with any crying drama that could come with so many people around.
The two party idea worked great and Ben & Jenna offered to host his party in West Tennessee at their pool. We had a great time playing in the pool and spending time with family. Nathaniel also got his first haircut at the party! He wasn't too into playing in the cake at this party.
The second party was held at our house for the Nashville family and friends. Since he didn't really want to get into the cake at the first party, we worked on that a little during the week and so he did play in the second cake more than the first. 

Fall 2012
Nathaniel left daycare and I left work in the middle of September and we started a new routine of being home together. He is learning so many new things! He started walking Labor Day weekend and has not let up since! He had his 15 month appointment and is officially on the growth chart. Since he was a smaller baby it has taken him some time to catch up. He was only in the 5 percentile, but we will still take it!

Winter 2012
 Christmas was fun this year with Nathaniel being able to open his gifts. He still wasn't too sure of what to do, but he had fun. He received a battery operated ride in jeep and didn't really care for it to move. :) He enjoyed sitting in it and letting Daddy push him around. Maybe he will enjoy it more this summer.
We announced to family at Christmas that we were expecting baby #2! It was fun to see everyone's reaction as we didn't actually say anything but let a t-shirt do our talking. I created a Christmas shirt that said "For unto us a child will be born. July 30:13."

Spring 2013
We decided to try our hand at the garden again this year just with fewer crops. We planted broccoli, green beans, green peas, carrots, zucchini and squash. As the zucchini and squash came up we noticed that some tomatoes came back too! I guess when we tilled the soil, we turned over some seed from 2011! We shall see if we actually get tomatoes.
Nathaniel's vocabulary is increasing daily. Not that he says new words daily, but he understands so much of what we say and ask him to do. He is great at finding things on the floor that aren't supposed to be there and telling us and throwing it away if necessary.
He loves to read books! He has a few that are his favorites and those change sometimes, but it is so great to see his love of reading.
We started ISR swim/rescue classes in May so that we feel safer when he is around water and so that he knows what to do if he were to fall in. He has done great in class and is looking to "graduate" probably this week.

If you have read down this far, you are awesome!!! Hopefully I will be better at updating the blog this summer since I have now gotten all of this recorded.

Lots of love,
Khakki

I started back to work the week of Thanksgiving and Nathaniel got to spend some quaility time with Papa & Gobbie (Matt's parents) that week. And he started to daycare the following week. I miss him during the day but I know he is being well taken care of. Dropping him off at daycare each day isn't as emotional as I had expected. I have more of a pull of the heartstrings when I pick him up in the afternoon and read how much I missed during his day. We are also adjusting to our new schedules for work and family time-some days it is easier than others.

He also turned 3 months old the week of Thanksgiving!! Isn't he so cute and getting to be such a big boy?!?

Hugs,

Khakki

First Road Trip

Our first road trip (outside of visiting family) was to DC in early November. Matt had a work conference there and since I was still on leave, we decided to tag along with him. We left on a Wednesday and headed to Lexington, Virginia, where we visited with friends and spent the night. Thursday we headed to DC for the conference where we stayed in another hotel room through Saturday night. On Sunday, we traveled a few miles down the road to Mount Vernon for Nathaniel's first history lesson. Where better to start his history lessons than George Washington's home? Nathaniel was such a great trooper during our time at Mount Vernon. We finally made it back home on Tuesday. I don't think we will be signing up for another 7 day trip anytime soon!! We were so ready to be home and to relax in our living room after "living" in hotel rooms for so many days. When we left on Wednesday, our car was so full of stuff! I felt like we took a sampling of everything we owned with us for the trip. I think we made it home with everything too, which is surprising after all the unpacking we did.

Ready to roll! Mount Vernon

Nathaniel is up to 9 lbs 13 oz now!! He really fills out the carseat much better now.

Two Month check up

It is hard to believe that it has been two months since Nathaniel's birth!

Two month stats

9 lbs 2 oz

21 1/4 inches

First Smiles

Where does the time go?

Recap of weeks 5-8

Nathaniel started developing eczema on his face after his first month, so we didn't take as many pictures of him in the following weeks.

We were able to skype with our family in Michigan and really enjoyed talking with Aunt Nan & Uncle Tim. We are so glad we are able to "visit" with them more often with skype.

My parents came to visit one weekend and are starting to skype with them more often as well.

We made our first appearance at church and he made it through the church service and Sunday school with little to no fussing. Yeah!

Our biggest accomplishment so far is that we made the trip to visit with my family. He was a really good car rider. Ben and Jenna were gracious and invited us to stay with them when we visited and we enjoyed spending time with them and seeing how much Kase and Cheston have grown. We look forward to spending more time with all the family for Thanksgiving.

Much love,

Khakki

No sleep 'till Brooklyn

Well, at least no sleep until Nathaniel sleeps. Fortunately he has been a pretty good sleeper for us. There have only been a few nights where he has forgotten that he is supposed to be sleeping when the lights are out.

Week three was as uneventful as it can be with a newborn. Family, friends and neighbors have made sure we are well fed. We took a few strolls around the block in our stroller. And he was up to 6 lbs 14 oz! And I made it over to shop at the ever famous consignment sale at our church and got some great bargains!

Week four was definitely more eventful. We made our first appearance at a church meeting on Tuesday night. On Wednesday we met a friend at a local lake for a hike with the kids. I do use the term "hike" loosely as all the other mom's had toddlers so it wasn't quite hiking as sight seeing. Either way, it got us out of the house and gave me some exercise and interaction with other moms. On Thursday we met two wonderful ladies (Abby & Courtney) for lunch and enjoyed our time together immensely. And we rounded out the week by stopping by work for a visit, a visit to a wonderful older couple at their home and a surprise birthday party for a friend at Sweet Cece's. I think we are going to lay low this weekend.

The first month has flown by! I hope that the weeks will start to go by slower since I will be heading back to work in November.

Nathaniel sure is growing and changing every day. Friday night (9/23-4wks old) he weighed in at 7 lbs 6oz! Not sure of his length, but he definitely fits better in the carseat now (but he still looks so small in it).

More "firsts" to come in the following weeks when we take our first trip to our old stomping grounds to meet our knit group friends, first trip to church, first round of shots and first road trip!

Stop by again soon for more updates on this great adventure!

Khakki