Double digits 10!!!

Dear Nathan,

The months seem to be going by so much faster.  We can't believe out sweet baby has now entered into the double digits....10 months.  You entered it with a big milestone: you are now a walker!!!  The most adorable walker too!  You look like Frankenstein holding your little arms up to help balance yourself, so stinkin cute!!  Words can't explain the feeling we get watching you learn to walk!  Mommy even cried the night you took your first official steps!  Its like now that you can walk its hard to look at you like you are still a baby.  We are SO proud of you and we always be no matter what!

FINALLY, you had your two top front teeth break through!!!  Hopefully we will get a little break from all the teething issues.  This month we have been trying to get you interested in table foods.  Its been very challenging.  You have a hard time adjusting to new foods with new textures.  Unfortunately, you are very picky just like mommy.

We get to celebrate Thanksgiving and your dada's birthday this month!  Dada is so happy to celebrate his first birthday as a dad this year and couldn't be happier to spend it with mommy and you!!!  You will have to give dada some extra snuggles and hugs and kisses on his day! 

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

9 Months

Dear Nathan,

The second best moment of mommy's life happened this month.  The first moment of course is bringing you into our life, but the second is hearing you say "ma-ma!"  Well you don't actually know that you are calling mommy's name but it still brings tears to her eyes every time she hears it!!! 

You also have learned to lay down to reach a toy that has rolled under the desk or table.  Its amazing to watch you figure out that the toy is still there even though you can no longer see it.  You learned SO much in month six that you are just really focusing on improving those new achievements.  That's really ok with mommy and daddy, we need a little break to adjust to the fact that you are growing out of babyhood.

Mommy and daddy are really looking forward to dressing you up for your first Halloween.  You are going to be a little puppy dog, the cutest one ever!!! 

Daddy is taking off work on Oct. 17 to take us to the State Fair!  We need to do something fun and special on this particular day because sometimes its really hard for mommy and daddy.  This is the day we lost our first baby, your oldest sibling.  But we know now that you are with us it will make this day a little easier.  Just showing mommy and daddy that beautiful little smile always melts away the tears that fill our eyes.  We Love You Always!!!

Mommy and Daddy

8 months!!!

Nathan,

Mommy's little baby is slowly turning into a little man :( Nathan you have enriched our life SO much. We can't imagine life without you in it. You are the cutest, sweetest, funniest child in the world. Mommy thinks you act TOO much like your Da-Da and you have shown your "Mommy's" attitude at times. All in all that spells BIG trouble :) We can already foresee many trips to the ER where you've gone and done something "crazy" to be funny and hurt yourself. In fact you got your first (and hopefully last) black eye the other day. The way you cried told mommy you really hurt yourself and within minutes your eye turned purple. Oh, mommy felt so bad like she always does when you cry.  You should be getting some top teeth soon.  We can tell because sometimes you just don't act like yourself.  Your drooling like crazy and nawing on everything.  A few times you felt a little warm too.  We hate your gums bother you so much but its something that has to happen. 

You officially learned to say "da-da" and there ain't no mistaking it this time. You say it ALL the time. As soon as you wake up "da-da-da-da-da-da" over and over. It is SO cute. Mommy just wishes she was hearing "ma-ma!" We are now trying to teach you to wave "bye-bye" and to stand without holding on. You've stood for a very few seconds already. We know you can do it you're just not that interested in it right now.

You LOVE to play with our dog, Shandi.  We wish the feeling was mutual.  Shandi hasn't been the same since you came home with us.  She was really depressed the first month or two.  Now that you can crawl it has made her life miserable.  You constantly kick her out of her doggie bed when you crawl in it.  You just want to play but she has no interest and just wants to sleep without being interrupted.  You will chase after her and she will wait until you can just almost touch her before she runs away.  It gives you the biggest laughs.  Everything Shandi does you think its SO funny.  Your laugh is the sweetest sound to our ears.  When you laugh we can't help but laugh too.  You are just to dog-on cute :)

Mommy still LOVES being able to stay home with you, she just wishes daddy could stay home with us too. We have so much more fun when he is home.  You still give mommy those sweet moments where you just want to be held and a few times you have actually fallen asleep snuggling with mommy!  She cherishes those moments more than you will ever know.  We thank God daily for blessing us with such a special little boy. 
We love you always!!!
Mommy and Daddy

7 Months

Wow, 7 months! That doesn't even sound right. It feels like just yesterday Nick and I were taking care of a newborn and now he is 7 months. Time needs to slow down. My heart can't take it that my baby is growing up. I guess I need to start planning a birthday party because it will be here before I know it :)

Nathan,

Everyday I come up with a new nickname for you but none of them seem to stick. My aunt wants to call you "Nate Nate" and that's not happening. We named you Nathan and that is what we want everyone to call you, unless its a silly little nickname like "little foot" or "chunky monkey!" But we can't call you "chunky monkey" because there is nothing chunky about you.

You have had a very exciting month! We have mastered crawling, pulling yourself into a standing position, TWO NEW TEETH (we worked really hard to get those) and introducing baby food.

Your going to send your mommy to the crazy house with all the daredevil activities you do everyday. You are no longer scooting, now your crawling. Mommy can handle that because your on the floor just moving from place to place. What she can't handle is you like to go to plugs and cords and sockets and play with those dangerous things. You also got into the potted plant. I hope they're right when they say "dirt don't hurt" because you have already had your share of it! You also have learned to pull yourself up into a standing position using boxes and the couches and mommy's leg. She is also ok with that but what she doesn't like is when you fall head first onto the hard floor. Oh, it scares her so bad. A couple of falls she thought she was going to have to take you to the ER because of how hard you fell. She is always close to try to protect you but sometimes she's not quick enough. It breaks her heart everytime you cry after getting hurt. You now think your skilled enough to just let go and stand on your own but your not and thats were most of your falls happen.

We survived your daddy leaving us a WHOLE entire week! The night before he left was the worst night you slept in forever. You woke up every one to two hours. Mommy was thinking how in the world is she going to be able to take care of you with no sleep everynight. So the rest of the week she prayed hard to God that he would give you the comfort that you needed at night to sleep. You slept ALL night EVERY night. It was amazing. Ironically it was the best week you had too. You were very content all day everyday. Mommy told daddy that you were too spoiled and you play both of us when we are together. We were SO happy when da-da returned! We told him to never leave us for that long again :)

You waited for your daddy to return before learning new things. So luckily he did not miss your teeth coming in and you learning to stand up using a box or couch. A couple of times we think we heard you say "ma-ma" and "da-da." Usually it sounds like your saying "ma-ma" when your crying (surprise surprise) and when your chewing on a toy it sounds like your saying "da-da." But when we try to teach you how to say it, you think it is SO funny. But I guess mommy and daddy probably both look and sound really silly saying "ma-ma" and "da-da" over and over.

Babyfood: to begin with you never really ever like you cereal even when it was mixed with fruit. Now we got the ok to introduce vegetables and meats. Mommy and daddy were thinking ain't know way this baby is ever going to eat those. We tried over and over with different things and you refuse to open your mouth. We wasted several things of babyfood that were just thrown in the trash. We wished we would have known that all it would take to get you to eat was SWEET POTATOES!!! You made them look so good that mommy had to try them for herself and even though they smelled just like sweet potatoes they did not taste like them. Ever since then you have aleast tried new things and usually we will mix some sweet potatoes in and you will eat it all up. You even like your cereal now. It so much fun feeding even though we spend a lot of time cleaning up afterwards. Its so worth it. We were beginning to think we were going to send you off to school with a giant size bottle of formula for lunch, lol!

We keep thinking that every month it doesn't get any better than this, but you show us that it does. You showed your mommy and daddy what there true purpose in life is; to love you and raise you up to be a Godly man. We joke about life before Nathan but there would be NO life without you baby!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

1/2 a Year Old!!!

Nathan,

Well you look very grownie in this picture!!!  Like someone said, "looks like the monkey is shrinking", lol!  Can't believe we are already at the half a year mark.  Its gone by WAY to fast.  Its funny, sometimes your mommy just doesn't feel like she has enough time with you.  Mommy spends all day long with you yet at night she wants to hold you a little bit longer just to soak you in.  You are such a happy baby and you LOVE to smile ALL the time.  We think you are SO happy because you see how happy we are having you in our life!

You are still not crawling but you get around just fine scooting everywhere.  It's so adorable.  You love to play, play and play ALL day long.  If you're not playing then you're napping and there is never any down time.  Its exhausting just watching you play.  When daddy gets home it just gets better!!!

You love to laugh!  We love making you laugh and hearing you laugh.  The easiest way to get you to giggle is to tickle you.  The best spot is your collar bone.  You laugh so hard you bend over and can barely catch your breath.  If you hear mommy or daddy laugh, you will too!  But the other day you saw a commercial on TV (I know you shouldn't be watching)  with a little white dog running around and you started giggling.  It was too cute for words.  Mommy thinks you thought it was our dog Shandi, who you adore! 

God gave us the most precious and special baby boy!  There is not a day that goes by that we take for granted.  We know how truely and precious the gift of a child really is.  Thank you God for Nathan and Nathan thank God for you!!!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

5 Months!!!!

I'm getting really slack when it comes to Nathan's monthly letters. It just goes by so fast and I start to get my months confused. I seems like as soon as I finish one letter he is already turning a month older. Nathan keeps me SO busy that when I do have time to sit down, I'm so mentally drained that I have a hard time writing anything. I LOVE playing with Nathan and I LOVE watching Nick play with him too. I knew Nick would be a great dad long before marriage and children were a part of the plan. I'm so happy Nick is home with us over the summer. All the while knowing its going to be SO hard when he has to go back to Red Oak. I'm mentally preparing myself for when Nick has to leave us for an entire week to take the Youth to Liberty University. Praying Nathan starts sleeping better before then because I won't be able to function the next day with lack of sleep and no help. I love Nick and I love Nathan can't imagine my life without either one of them! By the way this is my most favorite picture of Nathan's monthly pictures! What a cutie :)

Nathan,

I don't think there has been a day that you haven't tried to learn something new. You are now scooting all around the house. It is the most adorable thing you have done! But at the same time, mommy and daddy want you to SLOW down because we are not ready for you to be mobile yet. You get up on your knees like you are ready to take off crawling but you seem a little scared to do it just yet. We think you will be crawling in a matter of weeks. Better get the house baby proofed!

You have not really caught on to eating your cereal. You refuse to open your mouth to eat. We are being patient and we know you will soon get the hang of it. It is fun trying to feed you.

Good news is you did not have to go to the doctor this month, so that meant no shots! I don't think you have gained much weight. You love to go outside but sometimes its just to hot for us to go out there and play. You get tired of being cramped up in the house and so does your mommy. We are going to have to figure out somethings we can do outside of the house.

We have figured out a new sleeping arrangement for you, by accident. We left you in your car seat one night and you almost slept the entire night! So, this is now your crib. You seem to be comforted by being all snuggled and strapped in. Mommy and daddy are so happy that we have figured out something that works. We would love for you to be in your big crib but for now we are not going to worry about that.

You have to be getting a tooth real soon because you seem to be more and more bothered by your gums. We can't wait, mainly because we want you to get some relief. Teething is HARD work. You get ill sometimes and you want something to gnaw on constantly. You're going to be SO adorable with your little teeth. We can't wait!

So Happy 5 months Nathan! We love you,
Mommy and Daddy

Mommy's Little Man is 4 months old!!!!

I love my little man more than anyone can imagine!!! I can tell Nathan is going to be a lot like Nick especially the way Nick was when he was a kid. Nathan is already a wild child that's not afraid of anything! His new thing is to try to get out of my arms by wiggling until he is free....its crazy to watch him. He never ceases to amaze me. It really does seem like everyday Nathan learns something new! The past 4 months have experience so much joy and frustration, love and i feel like i'm going crazy! I feel like in those moments of madness its God telling Nick and I (especially me) that this is what you prayed for but it just makes us love even bigger :) We Love you God and our sweet Nathan! Its going to be interesting comparing Nathan's life to the life of his future sibling(s)! We want to one day show Nathan what we went through with him when he has a child of his own thats going to be just like him!

Nathan,

Mommy never knows what to expect when it comes to you. You can be perfectly content or playing and then out of the blue start screaming like you just got hurt. It gets mommy so worked up because she only wants the best for you and sometimes she just does not know what you are trying to tell her. As soon as we get a routine established you go and change it on us. You WERE sleeping 8 to 9 hours of solid sleep at night, now we wish you would just sleep 4 hours straight. You get up evey 2 to maybe 3 hours and you wake up screaming! It really scares us sometimes. We have tried several different things to help you out but nothing seems to be working. Your mommy and daddy are more sleep deprived now then when we brought you home as a newborn. We bought a new bassinet, one that you can actually stretch out in and that did not seem to help any at all. We have a suspicion that its where you want to sleep on your belly. When you roll over you roll on your face and that scares you because you can't breathe. Your mom and dad are getting desperate and a little crazy. In time I'm sure your going to learn what to do to sleep better at night.
You went to the doctor for your 4 month check-up and as always you got a great report! You LOVE going to the doctor, mommy thinks its because you get all the attention. You also like the way the paper sounds that they lay you on :) You love Dr. Ramsey and he is pretty fond of you too!!! He always compliments you on your behavior and your pretty blue eyes. You also like how he tells your mommy and daddy that they are doing a perfect job taking care of you!! You had to get those awful shots again but you only cry for a minute and seem to be fine the rest of the day. We also get to finally eat cereal for the first time, we are all excited about that!
Weight = 12lbs 4oz
Head = 16 1/4
Height = 24 1/2
Dr. Ramsey said you were in the low percentile but you were perfect and not to worry. Mommy is not sure we will ever get to call you chunky monkey ;)

We love you,
Mommy and Daddy