A New Little Sister

Well, Little Buddy, YOU ARE A BIG BROTHER!!!

On February 15, 2013, Gwen Autumn was born.  She is beautiful.  You already love her.  You call her "Sissy."


We were at the hospital for four days while you had been staying at home and visiting us every afternoon.  Your Grandma and Grandpa McGee took care of you while we were there and stayed at our home so you would still be around your familiar environment.  Your Daddy and I missed you greatly everyday and looked forward to every time you walked through our hospital door.

While Mommy was in labor for an entire day, your grandparents, Aunt Lindy and Daddy all took turns entertaining you.  Your Daddy found a big play area on the 6th floor of the hospital!  You were in heaven when you were there!  You wanted to play all day, every day. So your Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Lindy took you up there and took videos and pictures of you playing

After 25 or more hours of labor, I finally had to have an emergency cesarean section.  Your sister needed special attention to make it here.  But God took great care of us and she arrived safely.  It took Mommy and Daddy over 5 hours before we got to hold her and meet her for the first time.  After that I could not wait for you to get there to meet your sister!  You have such a warm and nurturing heart, we knew you would love her immediately.  Sure enough when you walked in the room you wanted to look at the baby and pet her. 

 Since we have come home, you are adjusting to not being an only child.  I would say you are doing very well!  You came in our room the first morning and saw me in bed nursing your sister.  You pointed to her and excitedly yelled, "Baby!"  Then you pointed to your newborn picture hanging on our wall and said, "Baby!" and pointed back at her.  It is amazing, even you think she looks like you did as a newborn.  Everyone thinks so too.  She has dark brown hair, but her facial features do look like yours!  Your Daddy and I have been blessed with two very beautiful children!




Tomorrow your Daddy goes back to work.  This will be my first time alone with you and Gwen.  It is difficult because I am still recovering from surgery.  I tried hard to avoid having a cesarean so that I wouldn't have to face six weeks of recovery and not being able to pick you up.  But due to the emergency situation it was not an option.  I am still sad that I cannot pick you up.  You are my little Buddy and my precious, sweet little boy.  It breaks my heart that you do not understand why I can't pick you up and hug you or let you sit in my lap.  More than anything, I want to hold you and snuggle with you.  I want you to know how much I love you.  So this is a difficult adjustment period.  I feel very emotional and am worrying about how it makes you feel.  But tonight after your bath we said our Goodnight Prayer with you.  Your Daddy prayed over you, your safety, and this transition to go very smoothly and easily for us.  Right after we said, "amen," Daddy brought you to me and I kissed your forehead and said, "I love you, Buddy."  You said, "I love you, Mom." in your sweet baby words.  I cried.  It was beautiful.  It was a blessing and it was exactly what I needed to hear.  I know God will take care of us during this time.  I just want you to know that even if I cannot show you my love, even if I cannot hold you, even if I am a million miles away, I love you with all my heart.  You will always be my Little Buddy.

Congratulations on your new BIG role!
I love you,
Mommy
. 

All The Little Things You Do

Hey there Little Buddy!

This morning, like any other morning, I went to greet you in your crib.  When I opened your door and turned on your light I saw you were standing up smiling at me.  Before I could say anything you exclaimed, "Buddy!"  I laughed and said, "You're the Buddy!"  And you giggled and said, "Bud!"
This was the first time you have ever said your nickname.  Every morning when I open your door I say, "Buddy, good morning Buddy!" And then I sing the "Buddy Song" I made up when you were a tiny newborn.  But today you beat me to it and I was once again blown away by how amazing you are.

Things like this have been happening a lot this year!  It is a new year, 2013, and you are about to turn 2 years old.  Your father and I have been working real hard around the house trying to get things ready for your little sister to come along.  For Christmas you got a new bed from your grandparents.  It is a beautiful white crib that turns into a toddler bed and then later converts into a full size bed.  So we gave your old crib to your sister.  In order to do this we had to take the old crib apart and move it into the new nursery.  Then we had to rebuild it in there.  (Cribs should fit through doorways, but this isn't a perfect world.)  Then we spent the whole evening in your room building your new bed.  We turned on some music, your daddy started building, and you and I played together.  Your idea of play was to empty all your baskets onto the floor.  Then, one by one, put each item back into the baskets.  Can you believe this entertained you for two hours?  Occasionally you would empty a basket and hide each item in a drawer or your book shelf, then gather everything back and put them away.  I loved watching you focus on your "work."  You took it so seriously as if it were a task to be completed meticulously.  While this was going on we were playing music from your daddy's phone.  At the end of each and every song you would stop what you were doing and clap your hands and say, "Yay!"  We would laugh and comment about how adorable you are.  Toward the end of building your bed you decided to join your daddy to help him with some final touches.  I took a picture, of course.  I couldn't pass up a moment like that!

You still clap and say "Yay!" at the end of every song your hear.  Even if it is music playing overhead in the store we are shopping in, you cheer for the artist's performance.  If it is a catchy tune with a fun beat you clap and bounce along.  You make any old shopping experience so much more exciting!

You learned how to say "Bye bye!" a little while ago.  But now you have added on to the cuteness.  When your daddy or I say, "Let's go upstairs for a bath!" You stop what you are doing, put your toy away in the toy box and then say, "Bye bye, toy!" before you head upstairs for your bath.  If we are shopping and you see a toy car (which you call a "Go") you point at it and yell, "Go!" and as we pass it by you say, "Bye bye, Go!"  The same goes for a stuffed animal you may spot.

There are so many little things you do that just make you the cutest little boy in the world.  I love watching you grow.  Each stage of your life has become my favorite stage.  I would love to keep you little forever, but I know that every milestone you hit is going to be another exciting adventure that puts me in awe of you.  Your Mommy and Daddy love you so much!

Mommy

Tis The Season to Make Memories

Here we are in the middle of the Christmas season.  I have been making it a goal to make as many memories as possible this season with you.  So your father and I have been planning just fun little outings where we can spend time as a family. 

The three of us went to downtown Oklahoma City last week to look at Chirstmas lights and walk around taking in all the Christmas decorations.  They have it all decorated and have lots of family fun activities set up every evening.  They call it Downtown in December.  You were such a good sport strolling along with us.  We walked all over Bricktown and then down to the Myriad Gardens to look at the lights along with the new Devon Tower's lights. 

We took you to see Santa Clause last Saturday at Christmas in Brookhaven Village.  We went last year too and you sat so happily on his lap and took great pictures.  This year you were scared of Santa.  You literally screamed and cried until it was over.  So our picture this year is me, Santa, and you screaming and crying in between us.  Great memories!  :)  Your Aunt Lindy and Cousin Cortland were with us.  This was Cortland's first Christmas and his first time to see Santa.  So he sat happily on his lap like you did last year.  I wonder if he will have the same reaction as you next year at his second Christmas?  It will be funny to see how similar the experiences could be!  On a side note, Aunt Lindy and I bought you and Cortland matching Christmas pajamas to wear on Christmas morning.

This past weekend was one of my favorites.  We went to our church's Christmas program on Saturday so we had all day Sunday off together.  So we all slept in and then I went and got you and brought you to bed with us.  So you snuggled with us and played with Roxie until we got up and went and got breakfast to bring home.  After breakfast we got dressed and headed up to Penn Square Mall and surrounding areas to go shopping.  We shopped at a lot of stores and walked around taking in the hustle and bustle of Chistmas.  This may not sound very exciting, but just being together as a family really is the highlight of it all.  We love spending time together laughing, talking, and taking pictures of you and watching all the cute things you do and say.  We then drove to find dinner at one of our old favorite restaurants that left our hometown years ago.  We hadn't eaten there in YEARS.  We were so excited to go and take you there too.  You LOVED it.  You ate a bowl of fettucini alfredo and probably three breadsticks.  We went to get donuts afterwards.  Totally not something we do often but wanted to just let loose and have fun this day.  We drove back to Norman and went to see a Christmas light show.  There is this home in the country that puts on a twenty minute light display set to music.  You were fascinated!!!  You kept saying "Whoa!" and "Wow!" and couldn't take your eyes off of the scene. 

We went home and played until bedtime.  Your daddy and I were so full of joy.  We loved every minute of spending time with you and each other just having fun, making no plans and just going where the wind took us.  It was one of our favorite days. 

We love you so much.  We cherish you as our precious child.  You are a gift from God and we thank him countless times every day for getting to have you in our lives.  I pray for many, many more years to make memories together. 

I love you so much Little Buddy!
Mommy

A November to Remember

Hey Little Buddy!! 

This has been a wonderful November!  The weather is still trying to decide if it wants to turn cold or stay warm.  I always prefer the cold.  I love bundling up in coats and scarves.  And YOU are the cutest little bundled up Buddy I have ever seen! 

This picture is from last Saturday.  You, your Daddy and I went to a Christmas tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree for this year.  It was a lot of fun and we want to make it a tradition from now on.  You wandered from tree to tree playing peek-a-boo with Daddy!  The rest of the time you walked hand in hand with us.  It was a wonderful memory we got to make with you. 

Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving!  We woke up and ate breakfast while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.  We took it easy most of the morning while I finished cooking my dishes for our family Thanksgiving lunch.  We went to your Aunt Lindy and Uncle Dan's house to meet the family and eat.  Then you snuggled me and Daddy on the couch while we watched football all afternoon.  You weren't feeling very well after lunch.  I didn't mind all the cuddling of course! 

We went out early in the morning on "Black Friday" to pick up your Christmas present.  The funny part about that was YOU were the one awake and ready to go out! So we got out really early and shopped and then we came home to take a nap.  We woke up around noon and went to Grandma Carolyn's for a Thanksgiving lunch with some of the family.  You spent most of the afternoon playing with your cousins Cassie, Brianna and Stephanie.  After that we went to Gran's house in Moore to meet with the rest of the family on my side for a dinner get together.  It was a pretty full weekend!  But the best part of it for you was having your Daddy home from work for FOUR days!  He is your bestest Buddy!  And you felt spoiled getting to have him home with you everyday of the holiday break.  He even taught you how to count to FIVE!  You are only 21 months old and can count to five.  That is so so impressive!  You are such an exceptional child.

Well, we have decorated the Christmas tree and started listening to Christmas music.  The Christmas season has started and I am so excited to spend our second Christmas together with you!! 

We love you so much, Bentley!

Mommy

Fall Has Arrived!

This is my new favorite photo!  We went to Haunt the Zoo last night with our friends Matt, Chloe and Claire Howlett.  You were dressed as the cutest little monster!  After the zoo we went to a family dinner and got to show off your costume to the whole family (on my side).  You made all your animal noises and said, "Bye bye!" to everyone.  These are the newest big things you have learned!

Last week we went to a pumpkin patch to take some Fall photos of you.  I am so happy with how they turned out!  I have been dying to get a great photo of you and me together!  So when I saw how these turned out, I got emotional. You are a beautiful baby turning into such a handsome boy.  I cherish these moments with you because you are growing up so fast.   Here are my favorites:

I'll Love You Forever, I'll Like You For Always...

Bentley,

Today you woke up cheerful, talking to the animals in your crib and howling at the puppy outside your door.  We sang our "Good Morning" song and then went down stairs for breakfast.  I turned on our Baby Channel on TV and you laughed at all the silly colors, shapes, numbers and songs that danced in front of you.  Then we got all dressed and hopped in the car to take Roxie to the groomer.  After we dropped her off, I grabbed an early lunch and took you home to play some more.  While you were playing you kept walking over to me to lay your head down on my lap.  After you did this several times, I decided it was time for an early nap.  You went right to sleep.

I decided that since I already had lunch to go ahead and grab a power nap.  Good thing I did!  Little did I know what was in store for our day.  You woke up three hours later very fussy.  You didn't smile during our wake up song, you didn't want a single bite of your food, and you weren't interested in the television that made you laugh earlier.  I tried to feed you a few bites myself but you turned it away after only two tries.  So I made you some chocolate milk because I know you would never turn that down.  You weren't the least bit interested.  I loaded you in the car so we could go pick up our puppy and called your Daddy on the phone to tell him that you weren't feeling well.  I wasn't even a mile from the house when I heard you start throwing up in the back seat.  I pulled over and jumped out of the car to check on you.  You looked so scared because you didn't know what was going on.  You have never been sick like this before.  This was the beginning of our long afternoon. 

You got several baths and I wrapped you in a towel to snuggle in between each of your episodes.  You didn't say a word for several hours.  You just cuddled me and looked so sad.  I have to tell you, that even though my heart was breaking for you, I was enjoying getting to hold you and comfort you all day.  After awhile of the same miserable routine, you finally fell asleep in my arms. So I held you and rocked you.  When you woke up an hour and a half later, you were my happy, cheerful little boy again!

I will always be heartbroken when you are sick.  I will clean you off, snuggle you when you want snuggled, and take care of you for as long as you need it.  You are my baby. 

I told you several letters ago that you have been so loving and thoughtful when I had been sick all summer.  I would run to the bathroom and you would start crying and running after me worried.  When I let you know that I was okay, you would bring me toys, dog food, anything you thought that would make me feel better.  YOU were what made me feel better each time.  You have such a tender heart.  I do not want you to worry about Mommy. The reason I have been sick the last few months is because I am pregnant with your little sister!  And your loving, caring and protecting personality assure me that not only are you the best son in the world, but you are going to be the best BIG BROTHER anyone has ever seen.

Thank you for having so much compassion in life.  In the same way I take care of you, you want to take care of me.  It reminds me of a book that I first read when I was a little girl.  I never forgot about that book, and even to this day it makes me cry.  It is the story of a mother who has a little baby boy.  And every night she would rock him back and forth and say, "I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always.  As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be."  As the little boy grows up, in all the stages of his life, she still says those words to him as he sleeps.  Then one day as the mother is old and weak, the little boy, now fully grown, comes over to her house and rocks her to sleep saying, "I'll love you forever.  I'll like you for always.  As long as I'm living, my Mommy you'll be."  It is such a sweet story that reminds me of you and me.  No matter what, you will always be my baby. 

I love you, sweet boy.
Mommy

18 Months Old

Hey Little Buddy!!
Today you are a YEAR AND A HALF OLD!!!!!!
What a big boy!!!!


I am so excited for you.  You have accomplished so much in your life.  And you have made my life so much brighter.  Your Daddy and I couldn't be any happier.  Ever since you came into this world we have had so much love, so much fun, and so many wonderful memories!

I laid you down for your nap about an hour ago.  You woke up after only 20 minutes crying.  You have a cold right now, so I went to give you some medicine to see if it would help your feel better.  When I got to your crib you just looked so sad so I picked you up and held you.  You just wrapped your arms and legs around me and laid your head on my shoulder.  It just felt so good to be holding my little baby and knowing that I can stop your tears.  So I sat in our rocking chair and just rocked you while you slept on me.  I just praised God for moments like this with you.  When you woke up, you smiled and pointed at a book.  You felt so much better.  I am still just beaming inside for that peaceful moment in time we had together.

I love you with ALL my heart, Bentley!

Mommy