A Fun-Filled Family Saturday.

This morning Jeff went to the store for Formula and came back with some extra special treats!! A Baby Pool! I'm not quite sure if it was for Brady or Georgia, but nevertheless, we all had a great time playing in the backyard! Georgia normally doesn't like being wet, but she hopped right into the pool with and without Brady and I. We had a great time splashing around and playing with the squirt toys.... Brady had a bit of trouble at first because the water was colder than his normal bath water!!





We also fun with tummy time today. I haven't done it in a while since I haven't been home but right when I put him on his tummy, he rolled right on over to his back! So I ran and got my camera and put him back on his tummy... but of course he didn't do it again! He definitely was pushing up some though. I actually think he was getting frustrated with himself and he pushed up the highest when he was whining the loudest. It would be like a loud grunt mixed with a cry.





We had fun playing as a family today and I only have two more days until I get to be a stay at home mom! YAY!

No Pictures.

Brady turned 11 Weeks yesterday. I realized yesterday that I have not taken any pictures in a WHOLE week!! I usually take some every day, it seems like, because I'm home with him and he's always doing something new. But this week, I was at work and when I got home, he was asleep. I'd wake him up to feed him and put him in his jammies, read him a story and then put him to bed. And it's not always his most happy time of the day. He's READY to get in his bed when it's time. I tried holding him the other day for a while after I read him a story and I could tell all he wanted was his bed. We try not to hold him until he falls asleep so that he won't get 'used' to that and not be able to fall asleep otherwise. But when you don't see him all day long, it's hard!

So this weekend I thought I would take a ton of pictures, but Jeff was sick. And I mean SICK! He started getting a sore throat on Friday night and by Saturday morning he was coughing up a storm with a fever. I kept telling him not to touch Brady but of course that is easier said than done. We were so looking forward to spending the weekend as a family and poor Jeff was sick in bed, and I didn't get any sleep because he was coughing so much, so I wasn't in the mood to take pictures all day. Brady and I did hang out all day Saturday and Sunday though.... and he's definitely up to some new tricks.

He's definitely getting bigger... and when I get some pictures, I'll post them! He is just now starting to grab things. Mostly only when you put it in his hand, but today he grabbed a tail on the monkey from his activity mat and held onto it for a while. I'm not sure if he knew what he was doing.... but I like to think he does. We have this little silver rattle that we started to give him while we're changing him.... he's not the happiest of changers.... and he would grab onto it and shake it over his head and try to put it in his mouth. (Can you tell we may have issues with swallowing things in the future???) I could tell on Saturday when he did it for the first time that he was almost surprised at what he was doing and so excited.... I am SUCH a mom, aren't I?

Anyways, all is well at the Leach house now.... Jeff's getting better and Brady and I both aren't sick... yet. Jeff started his second clerkship on Monday and I only have until next Tuesday at work. My sister got a baby Yorkie today... Fender. I'll post pictures of him too once we get to meet him! Crazy Uncle Cam moved home this weekend! YAY! We're so excited to have him close by.... I think he will stop by tomorrow for dinner. If you don't know already, my brother is a chef.... and an amazing one at that. He's looking for a job (selfishly, I want it to be in the DFW area) so if you know of anything let me know! He's been living in Aspen for a year and Denver for years before that so being back in Dallas is a big change.... especially the weather! :)

I'll post pictures soon... hope everyone is doing well!

Two Weeks Notice.

Today I officially gave my two weeks notice at HKS. Although it has been truly a wonderful place to work and I feel so privileged to have worked with wonderful people, I had to tell them that my heart was now at home. I was incredibly nervous about resigning, as I was thinking that some of the people would see it as a negative career choice as opposed to a positive life choice. But this was not at all the case... and I truly think that was a result of much needed and appreciated prayers. Everyone, including my boss, was so encouraging and supportive of this decision. It is truly bittersweet for me because I will miss everyone tremendously but I know that we will stay in touch.

Here's to Brady being 10 weeks old! I think he's around 11 pounds now (according to our system of weighing him on our scale) and he's just now taking 6 ounces of formula in a bottle! For those of you B-Feeders out there, I have such a respect for you and your diligence, as it's obvious that I didn't stick with it for too long. I think in the long run you have to have an incredible amount of patience and desire to make it work out, and unfortunately, it just wasn't there for me. I will definitely try again, but for now we're on Enfamil. It's working out wonderfully and Brady's taking all of the bottle almost every time.

He's also having a lot more fun on the Activity Mat and is loving the Bumbo... although I still can't let him stay in it for too long. He loved watching the U.S. Open with his daddy on Sunday and is looking forward to the 4th of July with his great grandparents. I think he's starting to really take an interest in his puppy because every time she gets near him, he has a big smile! I can't wait for this long week to go by so I can spend all day Saturday with my little Bug and see what he's been up to all week!

Father's Day.

I don't know about you, but I love cards. LOVE them. I love to give them and love to recieve them... especially when they are absolutely 'perfect'. I love picking them out and laughing out loud or being moved to tears in the aisle of the store. I love have five in my hand for one person and can't decide. I wish I could write cards. I really do.

In high school, when Jeff and I first started dating, we would pretty much buy out the Hallmark store. I think I maybe recieved a card and gave a card at LEAST once a week. I'd come out from school and there would be a card on my windshield, or a card in my mailbox from Jeff when I got home. We were infatuated with each other at the time- being 16 years old and all- and we were also infatuated with this particular kind of Hallmark card called "Personal Expressions". They're the long skinny ones that have a ton of writing on them, and they always, ALWAYS managed to bring me to tears and be exactly what I wanted to say.

So, on this Father's Day, I find it extremely appropriate to write what was written on the card I bought for Jeff. It actually didn't leave me with anything else to say to him.... and if I could write this beautifully, it's exactly what I would have written to him.

"For My Husband --- I always believed that our love would keep on changing and growing as we experienced more and more of life together... yet I never knew I'd feel as moved and thrilled as I always am when I watch you being a father... Seeing your big hands guide little hands into sleeves... seeing your strong arm curled around small, dangly legs... these and countless other things you probably never realize I'm noticing fill me with a sense of security and love... Because of you, the words husband and father have become a picture of incredible tenderness --- an image of you I'll hold forever in my heart." ---B.K. Loots

Happy Father's Day. What an honor it is to have watched my husband become a father.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Jeff's birthday! I have to be a little mushy here and tell you all how honored I am to celebrate 26 years of this wonderful man's life today. I can't believe that we started dating when we were 16 years old! It seems like forever ago (and it was forever ago). We've had some wonderful birthday celebrations over the years, but this one is extra special because he gets to celebrate with one new extra person this year... his son!

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart. We love you!

Doggie Day.

On Saturday, our Bible Fellowship class (a.k.a. Sunday School class) had a social outing at the dog park. We had an awesome turn out and everyone brought their cute dogs. Someone even brought a piglet! (Not from our class though.) Brady and Georgia both had a wonderful time! It was cloudy most of the morning so it didn't end up being too incredibly hot!

Annual Rib Night....

Every summer Jeff's parents have always done an "annual rib night" for Jeff and his best friends from growing up. However, up until this year, it's been a "no girls allowed" affair. But that's right, since I am a buy-one-get-one-free deal with our Little Man (and with Josh getting married, there's a majority now), we all got to come! Yay!



As you can tell from the pictures, Papa Ron is more than an expert in BBQ-ing and of course Darlene had to make her famous Oreo Cake (if you haven't had it, it's TO DIE FOR!) and we had a fabulous time!



It was also Brady's first time to meet Mr. Judd! Judd is our friend from high school (Jeff and him have been friends since they were itty bity and Judd and I went to school together). He just graduated from law school at UT and is currently studying for the Bar. He will be moving to D.C. in August, so Brady's trying to get in his "fun time" with Mr. Judd before he leaves.

Brady's Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Today was our 2 month Dr's Appointment. For Jeff and I, we've been so looking forward to this appointment for weeks! We were going to get to see how much our Little Man was growing! And good new for us, he's right at 10 pounds! (10 pounds, .5 ounces to be exact) He's also grown 2 more inches, so he's at 21 inches! We were so excited for his weight to be in double digits! He's gained 3 whole pounds since his 3 week weight check! Wow!

The bad news, was that our Brady Bug was going to have to get 4 shots. That's right, count them... 1-2-3-4. Luckily, they have two nurses that give them in the leg at the same time so it really only "feels" like four... (or so they say). I've never EVER heard him cry like this. (Jeff requested me to get it on video, and because he seems to have a nice set of lungs, I've decided to be a horrible mother and post a record of his shear agony here, but I can't figure it out... I'll try again later). He's been crying all day long. He'll go to sleep and wake up crying. (He normally wakes up pretty happy, unless he's hungry). He has even been crying in his sleep. (I wonder if he's having nightmares about it?!)

THEN, when we finally got home from the doctor's appointment, my little man had an incredibly smelly diaper so I decided to go ahead and change him before I fed him. As I was changing him, he was of course screaming his head off because I absolutely had to mess with his legs. (That's where his shots were). He then decided to spray everywhere, which made him (and me) even more upset! I grabbed the CLEAN burp cloth that was already set out for when I was going to fee him (they're like gold in our house) and covered it up before it got absolutely everywhere.

When I grabbed yet another diaper (we're on the 2nd clean diaper), he decided to spit up everywhere. So I grabbed the same burp cloth (yes, i know it's gross but you have to think fast when this is happening) and wiped his sweet cheek off. THEN he decided to go number 2... like, if I had not noticed his red face, it would have gone all over my hands. So it gets all over the front of the second diaper. So we finally got clean on diaper #3.



I could not bear to put him through any more trauma today, so I didn't give him a bath, I just wiped him off with a wet wash cloth and changed his clothes. I thought he would never go back to sleep, but he seemed to be relieved when I finally put him in his crib. I guess he was tired of being held and messed with, when he's not used to that normally. I hope he'll sleep good tonight and wake up tomorrow morning, having forgotten all of today!!

Super Mommies.

So today I caught myself doing something that I found absolutely embarrasing. (Surprising, I know.) I was walking Georgia down the street, with my Little Man in my arms (with a cute sun hat on, by the way), and she decided to leave a nice little 'present' in someone's front yard. I then bent down (with Brady still in my arms and holding onto Georgia's leash) to pick up her 'present' and put it in the little bag I carry with me because I'm a good neighbor. As I was doing so, I suddenly busted out singing "Super Mommy!" I've been doing this at home ever since Brady was born, when Jeff was around to hear. I wanted him to know how proud I was of myself when I could 'multi task' and do more than one thing at one time. BUT, I never expected it to become a habit when I surprise myself with what I can do all at one time, and I NEVER expected anyone ELSE to hear me say it. But lo and behold, the neighbor was looking out the window when I was in their yard, bent on all fours, picking up poopy and singing "Super Mommy."

This got me to thinking that every mom is a Super Mommy and at one time or another has had their own Super Mommy stories. For me, it went from being able to feed Brady a bottle and pour myself a glass of Ruby Red grapefruit juice at the same time, to feeding Brady a bottle and throwing Georgia's tennis ball at the same time. Then I found that I could walk Georgia with Brady in the stroller, listen to my iPod and drink a bottle of water all at the same time. It's like it all kicks in at once. It's like a 6th sense that happens when you become a mom... you just learn how to manage a crying baby, a barking dog and a ringing telephone all at one time.

SOO.... I'd like to open it up for all of you moms out there to share your Super Mommy stories with me! I know you all have them... and especially if you have more than one child.... how DO you do it???

Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Jeff and I are celebrating 3 Years of Wedded Bliss today! (We actually celebrated this weekend, but today's "The Day"). I can't believe that we've been together as long as we have, and this year we have another person to celebrate with!!

On Friday night, I made an extravagant dinner (with the help of my brother, the professional chef, of course) for my hubby. We then had TCBY for desert! Yummy. On Saturday night, Kaytie and Josh volunteered to babysit for us (thank you soooo much!) and we went to Trader Vic's for drinks and appetizers and then we headed down to Simply Fondue. What a wonderful meal! We had such a wonderful time together, and didn't talk about Brady TOO much! I'm glad we went the Fondue route. Jeff eats so fast normally, that the meal is over before I had time to eat it.... so this made us take our time, which was so nice!!

I love you, honey. I couldn't have asked for more in a husband or a best friend! You're amazing, and I'm so thankful every day for you! Muah!

We are ALL Boy at 8 Weeks Old!

How cute is this picture? My little baby boy has his first boo boo, and is it not so cute? He of course scratched himself during a nap at some point and ended up with his first scab. I guess this means that I have to bite the bullet and cut his fingernails, right? I read that you're supposed to wait until they're asleep to do it, that way they don't flail their arms as much!

Anyway... I can't believe 8 weeks has come and gone. I always thought he would be "soooo much older" at 8 weeks, and here he is... still my Little Man. He's a doll, if you ask me and we're having more fun everyday. We love to go on walks with Miss Georgia and have had many a lunch date with girlfriends. We also have discovered reality television together and LOVE to watch any and all reality shows (except for the knock off ones that Fox usually makes).

We also have found a love of reading. I didn't really read to him much the first few weeks, I kind of felt silly... and honestly I didn't even think about it. I was much more thinking about getting as much sleep as possible for all involved and it never crossed my mind to read to my Little Man before bed. But now, we have a nighttime ritual of reading in the rocking chair before going to bed. I have also started singing to him. (That was a last night thing.) I felt a little silly singing to him while making his swaddle, but he was just staring at me the whole time... which I think means he likes it!

I also THINK I got a little reaction yesterday that I consider to be the beginnings of a giggle. (Am I such a mom, or what?) I was cheek and making all sorts of weird noises (like all moms do, trying to get their child to smile) and not only did he smile, but he kind of made this noise that sounded like he was trying to laugh... like he thought I was funny. Who knows if he was just cooing (he does that a lot lately) but I like to think he thought I was funny. (I pride myself on that, actually.)

What do you think it is that makes us know how to smile when we're little? Isn't it amazing that a smile is more of a natural reaction than we think it is? That made me think today that NOT smiling in life is more unnatural. I think it may be more of a "learned" reaction to actually NOT smile vs. smile. (I'm no psych major, nor did I take any psych classes in college... that was simply an observation as a mom).

I also had to post this picture of what Jeff picked out for him to wear on Sunday to church! :) This is actually the little Onesie that Jeff bought for him when we found out that he was a boy and not a girl! It says "Chicks Dig Me" if you can't read it... It's still a tad big for him, but he looked darling in it! He's definitely getting my round cheeks, isn't he?



I also wanted to explain why we decided to make the blog private. On Sunday night, we got a few Anti-Baby Wise comments that were made anonymously on my last post. I realized then that not only did I not have a way to defend myself and our style of parenting, but that I didn't know who was reading our blog. I, too, am guilty of blog stalking... and I love it. I'm addicted, actually... and I get frustrated when people don't update their blogs (ahem, Julie Atkinson)... but I would have loved the chance to have a dialogue with whomever it was that disagreed so strongly with the fact that Brady was already sleeping through the night. SO, if was any one of you... please let me know, just so that I can sleep easier at nighttime! :) Ha.

Big News!!

Our Little Man is sleeping through the night!! I didn't want to post this earlier this week in fear that it was a fluke, but since moving the 10:00 feeding to 10:30, he is sleeping until 7:00! Twice this week he didn't even wake up in the middle and need his paci!! He slept straight through! I told Jeff it makes me so proud of him, and I'm sure he doesn't even know what he's doing!! Last night he woke up at 4:45, Jeff went in there and gave him his paci and he went right back to sleep. When Jeff came back to bed, I think we were both holding our breath to see if he would cry again, but nope!! Not until 6:45. (I let him cry until 7, is that bad?)

We're still working on naptime. Whew. That's the worst! Especially when he cries all through a nap, then he won't eat at the next feeding because he's so sleepy! And then we get off of our 'schedule', if you know what I mean! I try to let him cry it out, but it's hard to do doing the day. At night time, I don't worry about it (mainly because he doesn't cry much at nighttime) but when I'm in the next room it really gets to me!!

The only problem we have now, is that at 10:30, sometimes he's still sleepy and won't eat very much. Any suggestions for that?

7 Weeks Old!!

This week has been a fun one! Brady is starting to be so alert and so smiley!! The trouble is that sometimes when he cries at nighttime, we think it's just for us to come in there and see him smiling! This morning was the first morning that he smiled BACK at me when I went to go get him though. What a special treat!



I guess we've "officially" dropped our middle of the night feeding. Brady has started to sleep from 10 until right around 6. Since we're trying to get him to go until 7, I'm trying to pacify him until then... but this one has been a little trouble. I'm not quite sure how to go about getting him to 7, so tonight we are going to push our 10:00 feeding back to 10:30. He's been so sleepy at 10:00 for the past few nights that he won't finish his bottle, and we think that if he finishes his bottle then maybe he'll get to 7?! Ha. The joys of sleep 'training'.



Our little Man has also started taking 5 ounces in his bottle at every feeding! He is almost consistently finishing them already! He loves to eat, but he's still so tiny!! I know that he's getting bigger for sure, but whenever anyone sees him, their first comment is always "He's so little!" But, I think he'll make up for it in the long run.... and remember, we're going for a quarterback, not a linebacker.



He LOVES to stretch out, especially when we're changing him. We call it his "superman" move because it looks like he's flying!! The other morning I came in to get him from his crib and he had come out of his swaddle and all I could see were his arms straight up in the air! I hope he doesn't think he's just going to take off without a running start!



I also think that he's now discovered Georgia. He looks at her now when she sits next to him and if she moves, he'll follow her with his eyes and move his head. It's so interesting to watch him discover the world around him. It makes me realize how many little things I take for granted!



Yesterday, for Memorial Day, we swam at my parents' house. My dad warmed up the spa just so that it was like his bathtub water and he LOVED it. After he was in the spa he did not want to go back to colder water in the pool! Georgia had fun with the beach ball and was mourning the loss of it after she killed it. (See picture below... notice that she's wet? She slipped in when she was trying to get the ball out of the pool). We're looking so forward to what God has in store for our little Brady Bug this week!







P.S. If you have an extra hour in your day (Yeah, I know... what am I thinking?) take a look at this blog. Make sure you have some kleenex handy and start from the bottom up. She is such a beautiful writer and is so honest about her faith. It may take you a few sittings, but it is totally worth it and God has taught me so much through her writing. I hope you are blessed by her transparency as much as I have been.

Big People Clothes

So today, we tried on what I like to call "Big People Clothes" from our closet. See how cute he looks in this little Polo One Piece? He's finally filling out something other than a onesie!! (I didn't get too many pictures without his bib on!!) Don't you just want to eat him up?!

p.s. That's another new thing this week... we've recently discovered the bib! I usually keep it on him for 10 minutes or so after he eats because you never know when a little dribble is going to come out!!

The End is Here.

So today is the Grand Finale of American Idol. I cannot tell you how much I look forward to this day every year. (I know, that's totally weird, but it's true). And especially this year. Jeff and I both really got into this year and we have not missed a night. (Even in the hospital we watched it, but not as intensely as we usually did). We each had favorites from the beginning and I have to say that none of our favorites are in the finale. Jeff and I kind of have a competition as to who can pick the winner the earliest... he probably doesn't know that I think of it as a competition, but if I ever picked the winner from the beginning, he would know it and be reminded of it every day!

As most of you know, my absolute favorite contestant was the cute Michael Johns. (I've added some of his songs to my playlist). And although I don't think he ever really came into his own, I think he's going to be big. I also like that he's married and his wife was always there cheering him on. (I've noticed that I really like the married contestants... i.e. Chris Daughtry and Carly Smithson). Michael Johns is neck and neck with my favorite A.I. contestant ever... Chris Daughtry. I truly think that if this had been any other season, that Michael would have definitely gone farther than he did... mainly because I was in the hospital the week he got kicked off and I didn't get a chance to vote as much as I usually do! :)

Jeff's favorites from the beginning were Brooke White and Kristy Lee Cook. Now I totally get the Brooke White thing, but not the Kristy thing. I mean, what's the deal with her? I never thought she was THAT great.... I truly didn't even think she'd make it to the top 12!! And Michael got kicked off before her! I know if you're honest with yourself, that you KNOW that wasn't right!

Anyway, I have to say that I love David Cook and I'm totally done with David Archueleta (or however you spell it). I think he has an incredible voice, don't get me wrong, but he's so incredibly awkward. Joanna pointed out how weird it was when he sang "My Boo" last week... and I have to totally agree. He's awkward. And even though the judges didn't particualary like David Cook last night, I have to say I loved every one of his songs... especially the last one. I thought it was beautiful. He has an incredible voice. So I'm still predicting him to win!!

So, tonight will be bittersweet for me in the land of television. I'm so glad it's two hours long, so I can savor every last moment of it. I don't remember if it was last year or the year before that Prince made a surprise visit and it was an absolutely AWESOME finale!! I hope this one does the greatest season ever justice! I really don't know what I'm going to do with myself once I have Tuesday and Wednesday nights free again!! How great is reality television? (Oh, and did anyone notice that the playbacks at the end last night did NOT match their performances? Go back and watch it if you have it recorded and you'll see what I mean!! They both sounded 'off' in their playbacks, but they weren't at all in their performances... hmmmmm...... is this a lawsuit waiting to happen???) :)

6 Weeks

We're already at 6 weeks! I can't believe it! We've had a lot of new experiences this week and we've started to take up walking in the afternoons! It's kind of a big feat for me to take him in the stroller and to walk Georgia at the same time... but Brady seems to LOVE going on walks. If it's not too sunny, I'll leave the stroller open and he just looks around and grins. Georgia, on the other hand, hates the stroller. I've run over her twice with it already and she hates walking in the street, so we have to make room on the sidewalk for all of us. She will now either walk in front or behind the stroller but not next to it. (Some might ask why she doesn't just walk in the grass, but she only does that when she has to go to the potty.)

So, these pictures are from when I we were getting ready to go on a walk. I decided to change the scenery from my usual pictures on our beautiful striped blanket. Do you think he's getting bigger? I definitely think he's getting bigger. He is definitely filling out in his face a lot more.

He pretty much sleeps for 6 to 6 1/2 hours during his long stretch at night now, and we're hoping to stretch that to 7 by next week! He's been doing a LOT better at naptime, he's become pretty content in his crib, even if he's not sleeping. We stopped swaddling him the other night and have just started putting him in jammies and tucking the blanket in under him like a burrito baby. He seems to not have a problem with it at all, now that he's used to it.

He's a pretty laid back baby... he drinks his bottles straight from the fridge, he doesn't fuss too much (unless he's gassy) and he smiles REALLY big for his daddy. He's started to enjoy his bathtimes instead of screaming like he used to. He goes down GREAT at nighttime and he's been finishing all four ounces of his bottle pretty consistently. He also is a real trooper when I lug him around to lunch, dinner and running errands. I wonder how long he'll stay that way!?! :)

Congratulations Uncle Bubba!!

Today we went to Ryan's graduation. (He is also known as "Uncle Bubba"). We had such a wonderful time, and Ryan of course did great!! We had Brady in the ceremony and he didn't really make any noise and then Jeff took him into the hall to feed him after he saw Ryan walk across the stage!!

Congratulations Ryan!! We love you!

Jammies.

So last night was the first night we tried to put Brady in some jammies. They have been too big for them (or they were when he was born) so I had never tried them on him before. But last night, we decided we wanted to put them on and they fit! Not only did they fit, but doesn't he look absolutely precious? He seemed to really like them, and he looked so cute. It made me want to have some jammies that had feets on them!

I hate to say this, but I'm kind of sad that he's almost 6 weeks old. I've been so focused on getting him to 'do' more and sleep more that I feel like I didn't enjoy the first 6 weeks as much as I could have! I know it's extremely hard and it's a huge adjustment for all of us here at home, but I didn't really take it to heart when people would say "Enjoy this time, it goes so quickly!" I would be like "What are you talking about? I'm done with this stage... I'm ready for him to 'do' more!" But guess what, he already is.

I've noticed this week that he likes to hold his head up A LOT when he's on my shoulder. He's a curious little boy and I can already tell that as soon as he's mobile he will not want to be held like he does now.... He is such a boy. I call him my little wiggle worm. He loves to stretch and wiggle, and when he stretches he makes this little scrunched up face that I'm STILL trying to get a picture of.

Anyway, I wanted to let those of you who told me that it would go by so fast know, that you were right. I can't believe it. Yet, I'm so looking forward to what he will do next that it's hard to even miss what's gone by!

Spit Up and Smiles!

Yesterday we decided to get the Activity Mat out because we are definitely looking for new things to do besides tummy time and our swing now that we're awake more. He is definitely 'focusing' on the toys hanging off of the mat... its amazing what excites me these days! But today when we got on the mat, Brady decided to be Mr. Spit Up!!

This is how our afternoon went: spit up, wipe it off, turn around, look back, repeat. Even when he went down for his nap! He would be doing fine, talking to himself, and then all of a sudden I would hear on the monitor I shocking wail! I knew that was him spitting up and kind of surprising himself. He was spitting up his bottle so much this afternoon that I think he probably spit up the whole thing! No one tells you how often you're going to be changing the sheets and washing the mattress pad, or you probably wouldn't even mess with buying a bumper pad! :)

But other than that, we've been moving toward a new development... SMILING! I was thinking today about that Look Who's Talking movie where the baby is talking... and I was thinking of what Brady must be saying in his head when I'm trying to get him to smile. Today when I was in his face, making goo goo eyes and weird noises trying to get him to smile, all I was saying was "Do you think Mommy's silly, Brady? Aren't I so silly?" If he could talk, I bet he was saying.. "Oh my gosh, you are such an idiot, Mom. I'll smile when I want to, K?" (Can't you tell I am already looking ahead to the teenage years!)

But he is starting to smile, even at me when I kind of get in his face, or when Georgia does! It's not a full on smile yet, it's more like a mouth open smile. I got some pictures of it, but they're kind of hard to get, so they aren't so good. I'm sorry about the one with the spit up in his mouth... you can tell I had just gotten done with the "wiping" portion of the cycle. (Oh, and I must post a disclaimer that these pictures were shot with our "old" camera, so they didn't turn out as well.)

Brady is a growing boy, too! Last night in the middle of the night, he finished his 4 ounces that we usually give him and he was still hungry, so I fixed 2 more and he ate it all and then fell right asleep! I am not expecting that to be a usual thing, but who knows? He also has slept from 10 until 4 the past two nights, and on Mother's Day he slept until 5:45! We're getting there, slowly but surely, we're getting there! Now, if I could just learn to sleep through all of that instead of wake up every five minutes and wonder if I hear him crying! Any tips on that, or will I just get used to it and eventually sleep through it all?