Our Journey towards Parenting!

9 weeks gestation 21 Weeks Gestation 30 weeks gestation A few hours old 1 month 2 months 3 months 4 months 5 months

My mom, cousin Sabrina, her son Matthew, Jeremiah and I (Christel) all took a road trip to Tyler Texas to see Sabrina's best friend, Amanda, and her family! We left Sunday, April 7th around 7pm and drove all the way there. My mom drove, and Matthew, Jeremiah and I were in the back. We weren't too far along when we had to pull over because Jeremiah pooped his pants. Well, that was the first thing I forgot to plan for. What do I do with dirty diapers? The diaper was horrendous so I threw it in the ditch. Some poor, poor animal is going to get quite the treat when they rip that diaper open haha! At one point I was driving and hit some animal...it looked like a cat. The stupid thing had no chance. I didn't see it until it was at the bumper and then I felt the bump.  Because I didn't want to add too many hours to our already 15 hour long trip, I just fed Jeremiah his bottles in the carseat without stopping to burp. Which we later learned, was a big, big mistake. Jeremiah...

Jeremiah is now a little over 19 weeks old! He will be 20 weeks old on Monday! Time sure is flying by! We have had an eventful past month or so. Jeremiah has been in and out of the doctors more than I care to admit.  First we were in because he had dry, red patches all over his arms, shoulders, legs and back. His family doctor couldn't figure it out so he sent us to the dermatologist. So we went there, she didn't quite know what it was so we treated it like eczema. We used a strong hydrocortosone cream twice a day. Well, it cleared up in about a week! We had to go back in two weeks for a recheck and got the clear to come back in a year to check on things. Then, one morning I noticed some goo coming out of Jeremiah's ear. I took him back to his family doctor and he was diagnosed with an ear infection. We weren't given antibiotics but were told to put a couple drops of vinegar in his ear a few times a day. After his whole ear turned bright red, I decided to get a...

When Jeremiah turned 16 weeks, he tried some rice cereal! He didn't quite get the point, so we waited a week. The next week, his tummy couldn't handle it so we waited another week. Ever since then, he has had rice cereal every morning! At his 4 month check up, his new doctor gave him the green light to try solids! We did sweet potatoes for 4 days, then did green beans for 4 days and did prunes for the first time tonight! For some reason, the blog isn't letting me upload the video of him doing his prunes, but he loved them!

One year ago today.... I woke up in the morning not feeling quite right. My abs felt like I had done a few hundred situps and they hurt! I had one cheap brand of pregnancy test in the bathroom and decided to take it, not expecting anything to show. And I got this...  The line was just barely there but it was there. I had never even gotten anything close to that before. Matt couldn't really see it and my spirits were starting to crush. I decided to post a few pictures of the test on a forum that I was a part of. All the ladies there were saying that it was positive. Mid-day, I decided to not use the bathroom and grab a better brand of test on my way home. Deep down, I knew that was it so I took the test in the store and got this... Oh my I couldn't believe my eyes! I immediately took a picture with my cell and  sent it to Matt and then called him. The picture taken with the phone wasn't very good so poor Matt had to wait 45 minutes until I got home. On the way hom...

Today is Jeremiah's 3 month birthday! Here is a picture from today, the outfit next to him, he used to swim in when he was born! He sure grew fast! In the past few weeks, Jeremiah gave mommy his very first belly laugh! It was so adorable! Of course when I try to get him to laugh for Matt or catch it on video, he won't do it! We also took Jeremiah to his very first basketball game. It was his 3rd cousin Daniel's middle school game! Jeremiah wasn't a big fan of all the noise but settled down once he got back in mommy's arms and promptly fell asleep. He then woke to eat and his favorite 2nd cousin Sabrina fed him!  He is more alert during the day, usually going between 2-3 hours between naps. At night, he has started sleeping about 5 hours for the first stretch and then 4 hours the second stretch. We could almost set our watches to his feeding schedule...every 4 hours on the dot!  He has yet to roll over but tries really hard to sit up. When he is awake, he p...

Life is so busy these days! I started carrying for another baby, he is almost 5 months old! The little guy is such a sweetie and I do enjoy getting to spend my days with two adorable little boys! I really can't wait for this summer when I can take them outside and go on walks, go to the park, etc! Jeremiah- He is now 10 weeks old! I know I say this every blog, but man, time needs to slow down! Before we know it, he'll be graduating high school hehe! Jeremiah is such a happy boy! Unless he is tired, hungry or has a dirty diaper, he is all smiles and giggles. He just loves it when daddy comes home from work! Matt will spend some time with him if he's awake. Jeremiah just smiles, coos, and giggles! It warms my heart to see the two of them together! Matt will make all sorts of silly noises just to get a giggle out of Jeremiah. And the way Matt's voice sounds when Jeremiah smiles/giggles at him is just amazing! Parenthood is definitely the toughest job that I've ever l...

Jeremiah celebrated his first christmas! This has always been a dream of mine. To have a young infant during my favorite holidays- Thanksgiving and Christmas- and God has made them come true! We started out by going to church on Christmas Eve- he was Ooo'd and Ahh'd over just like every time we go to church. He slept through the whole service! You know, having a baby, especially a boy, brought a whole new meaning to me this year. I always marvel at the birth of Jesus, but this year my thoughts were on Mary. Knowing what I went through, am going through and have yet to go through, I wonder if Mary felt those same things. I wonder if she cried when she heard him cry for the first time, if her heart burst open at his first smile, if she cried happy tears while giggling with him. All the wonder of a baby boy- did she experience too? And also did she know what he would have to go through, or did God protect her heart for the time being. So many questions! After church we w...

I posted this video a couple weeks ago on facebook. We sang this song one day at church and ever since then I can't get it out of my head. Something that I didn't share with many, I had the baby blues pretty bad with Jeremiah. It didn't turn into  postpartum depression but it got close. I was worried about EVERTHING. I couldn't watch a sad movie cause I would cry. We tried to watch a movie where some teens got in an accident and we had to turn it off because I cried and couldn't bear the thought of something like that happening to Jeremiah. I would just sit and cry for no reason at all. I drew closer to God during this time. I would play worship music, sing it in the shower, worship in my thoughts and just feel God holding me. And then there was one early sunday morning. It was the morning that I had been up with Jeremiah and was reading through all of our old posts, and every thought, feeling and emotion came flooding back. I almost didn't want to go to ch...

This time of year should be filled with joy, laughter and smiles. But instead, I have a very heavy heart. All my life, I dreamed of having a young baby for christmas time. God granted me that wish, and while I am overwhelmed with love for Jeremiah, my heart is heavy. Yes, the recent shootings have affected me and I can't stop thinking of all those children and families. However, I am missing a sweet blonde-haired, blue eyed little girl named Brookelynne so very much right now. Brookelynne was the light of my life for 2 very short years. I loved her like my own. I always think of her, but now, I keep thinking about what she would be like and how much she would have loved Jeremiah. I picture her holding him, laughing at him, and just being a sweet pre-teen. So while I sit beneath the christmas tree holding Jeremiah, tears fill my eyes. I just remember doing the same with her when she was a wee little baby. I also imagine her spending christmas in the best place of all..in heaven w...

I can't believe that Jeremiah is 6 weeks old! It seems just like yesterday that I was watching him squirm in my tummy, dreaming about what he would look like, and now he's here! Jeremiah is getting so big, so fast, and seems to be changing a bit everyday! In the past week, Jeremiah has been flashing us his most adorable smile! I never have a camera on me but someday soon I will catch that smile on film! He also has been awake for longer periods during the day. When he is awake, he usually doesn't like to be held for long. He'd rather lay on his back and kick, kick, kick away! His eyes are changing to a dark gray! He holds his head up quite well while being held and also while doing tummy time- which he can't stand for more than a few moments. Jeremiah has been eating 5 ounces every 3-4 hours, while going longer periods at night. Last night (monday, december 10th), he slept for 7 hours straight...yep, from 1am till 8am!! As for me (mom), I had my 6 week check up ...

We got Jeremiah's newborn pictures back this week! Our friend, Tory (blue shoe photography) did an amazing job! His pictures were taken when he was 6 days old. Tory was so patient with us. I was still healing and pretty sore from the c-section and Jeremiah was on his own agenda. We had to stop to change him, feed him and put him back to sleep a few times. Anyway...here's some of my favorites!  This was his first real smile and it warms my heart everytime I see it!