Dear Will,

Today you are four months old. Four months! How is that even possible? It seems like yesterday that I was meeting you for the first time…slow down baby boy! You are the best gift that I’ve ever been given and I can’t thank you enough for making me a Mommy. You bring joy to my life each and every day. You make me smile, you make me laugh, and sometimes you even make me cry. But I love every single second of it. I thought I loved you four months ago…boy, I had no idea what was coming! The depth of my love for you is greater than I ever imagined possible. It’s scary and exciting and wonderful. It makes me wonder if the way I feel about you can even come close to the way God feels about each of his children. I hope one day you’ll experience that overwhelming, knock-you-off-your-feet type of love for your own child, so you can fully realize the way I feel about you, precious boy.

You’re so different than you were four months ago. You giggle, you grin, you talk, and are a total ham. You love to be the center of attention and like nothing more than to have “conversations” with people. You can entertain a whole group of old ladies by grinning and flirting with them! You’re a roller now. You can roll from tummy to back and are still incredibly close at going from back to tummy. You love to snuggle, your paci, Where the Wild Things Are, the pool, the Mei Tai carrier, bath time, the Exersaucer, the dogs, and being outside. There isn’t too much you dislike anymore! You are fascinated with faces right now. You reach your chubby little arms up and grab for Mommy or Daddy’s nose, eyes, and lips while we’re holding you. You love to fly on my knees and to be pulled up to sitting or standing. When we sing “The Wheels on the Bus” you grin and laugh when I get to the part where the “mommies go shh shh shh.” It gets you every time, so I sing it more often on purpose. We both end up rolling on the floor laughing.

You’re still not a great sleeper, but I’ve decided that I don’t care. This time with you is flying by so fast that sleeping in our bed for a few months isn’t going to matter in the grand scheme of things. And I might just secretly enjoy those midnight wakings…just you and me in the dark, staring at each other until we both drift back off to sleep. Sweet, peaceful moments that I’ll never get to experience again.

I love you so much, Will. Thank you for making me a Mommy and for being such a blessing in our lives.

Love,
Mommy

It's live!

The new blog is live! Head on over, check it out, and leave some comments :) Make sure you update your bookmarks too. This blog will stay up, but I won't be updating it anymore.

http://www.libbyannphotography.com/blog

Ch-ch-ch-Changes!

There will be some changes to the blog coming very soon! The biggest change is that I'll be merging my personal blog with a new business blog. The main reason for this is that I feel like I need to start a business blog to show off all my wonderful clients and have a place for my most recent work to be displayed...I think it'll help with my business tremendously and I've spent the better part of the evening getting it set up. I don't want to have two blogs because one would end up getting neglected, so I'm going to combine the two. Don't worry - there will still be plenty of Will posts! And lots and lots of pictures, as always! There will be a new address for it, but I'll link it when it's completely finished. I'm excited!

If you haven't been by the site lately, you should. I've put up lots of pictures from some of my most recent sessions. You also might see your favorite little blue-eyed boy showcased in a few spots! God is really blessing me with business lately...it's picking up and I'm loving every single minute of it! Keep praying for us in this area, though, please! We're working hard to get completely debt free (except for our mortgage) and every little bit helps so much.

Because I love him more than I ever thought possible, here are a few pictures of Will. He has the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen...I know I'm biased, but look at them! I didn't do a thing to them in editing - the color ones are pretty much straight out of the camera besides a little sharpening. Crazy blue eyes! :)

Sleep is for the birds!

My baby is such a stinker. Sleep in mommy's bed = sleeping through the night and maybe waking up around 2 or 3 to eat. Maybe. Sleeping on his own = waking every hour or two. I think he's going to need me to sleep in the same bed with him when he goes to college ;) Just kidding. I know that's an exaggeration...but our sleep issues are not resolving themselves. I can't just leave him in his room to cry. I know it works for some people, but it eats me away and I just can't do it. So I'm going to talk to his pediatrician on the 5th about what I can do to help and then go from there. Hopefully we'll have this whole sleep thing figured out by the time he's 1! I tell him it's a good thing he's cute, because one look at that gummy little grin has my heart melting and all ill feelings of the night before turning to feelings of love and adoration.

He is starting to really notice food as well. I've started watching a little girl, Marley, and she's just started eating solids. I tried to hold Will on my lap while I fed her, but that lasted all of a few seconds before he got fussy. He kept leaning towards the food, licking his lips, chewing, and drooling. It was a little pathetic and a lot funny! Sorry buddy, you've got a couple more months before we go through that little adventure together! I have a feeling that he's going to be ALL about the food though!

He's sooo close to really rolling from back to tummy. I keep waiting for it to happen, but he hasn't shown off his skills yet. He watches what Marley does, though (she's a very good little roller!) and tries to imitate her. I bet I'll be sharing that we have a real roller soon (since I don't think the little rolling act on the bed actually counts).

Here are a few shots from today...I have a ton to go through, but these are my favorites :) I think I'm going to be constantly changing out photos on our photo wall in the entry way. Every time I take pictures I end up with new favorites! (Pictures of the house to come very soon!)

This is the grin...the one that melts my heart! How can you resist that toothless little face?


I love his eyes...so blue!




Remember the last "hugging" the bear picture? Can you even believe how much he's grown in three short weeks?






The bubbles...the drool. It's just too much cuteness for one picture!

One More

I wasn't going to edit anymore pictures tonight...I was going to go to bed. But this one caught my eye and I love it, so I had to share :)

We're still alive!

Sorry for not blogging lately...life here has been a little crazy. Will is not sleeping well at all anymore...in fact, I'm lucky if I can get a 2 hour stretch between him waking! Greg has been awesome helping out, but the little guy is wearing all of us out - himself included! I've had to cross one of the "I'll never's..." off my list. I swore up and down that we'd NEVER co-sleep with him. Yeah...that lasted all of a few nights until I was desperate enough to get sleep that I put him in bed with us. He's totally a fan of it. I'm not really, but it does mean I'm getting some form of sleep, and right now some is better than none. Any ideas for helping with our horrible sleep habits? I'm hoping I'm not going to be forced to grin and bear it until he's older!

Other news...Will officially rolled from back to tummy on Sunday! I'm counting it, even though he was on the bed and my weight made it a little easier for him ;) He's really started to talk - a lot! He babbles and shows off all the time...it is so cute! He grabs his feet when laying on the floor and he reaches for everything. I feel like everyday brings a new milestone...this age is so much fun. As of last Tuesday, he weighs 15 pounds 12 ounces...holy cow, he's almost doubled his birth weight!

Last week we took his first trip to Kansas and I cannot get over how wonderful he was. He had his shots the day before we left, so I was a little worried about how the car ride would go. He surprised both Greg and I by being a wonderful passenger. He slept for a lot of the trip, played with some toys hung from his carseat, and really only cried for the last 30 minutes of the 12 hour trip. He was also amazing in Kansas - he showed off for everyone! He is in love with my grandma...he would light up when he saw her and babbled away with her :) He took his first dip in a pool while we were there too and he loved every second of it. I definitely think we have a water baby on our hands! The water was even a tiny bit chilly and he couldn't care less. We're going to have to start taking him to the pool in our neighborhood or something.

Here's a picture from the 4th to fill your Will quota for the day! I've got tons more where this one came from...I've just gotta get them edited!

14 Weeks: Photo Overload

Be prepared for some cuteness...Mommy got camera happy tonight!

The Exersaucer has been one of my best purchases to date. He stinkin' loves this thing!



We had a little pre-bedtime fun in it tonight and he giggled and talked and smiled the entire time.


Concentrating so hard so he can...


...grab the dog!


We have to prop him up with 3 or 4 blankets because he's still just a tad bit small for it.


I think this might be one of my new favorite pictures of him. I love how hard he's concentrating on the butterfly and I love his chubby little hand grabbing the dog...he's so precious!






After playtime each night is bath time, followed by some changing table giggles, a story (if he's up for it), swaddling, nursing, and then finally bed. I love his little chubby thigh propped up to fully enjoy his relaxing bath ;)


He studies us intently as we give him his bath...Greg was pouring water over him here and he watched and studied him. It's so adorable!






















This is how we wash his back...it looks hilarious and his grunts and babbling while he sits like this make it all the funnier!


I don't think there's ever been a cuter baby bottom than this one!








All wrapped up and snug after his bath. I love this :)






He is always talking anymore!


Checking out the other baby in the mirror. He's still not quite sure that it's him in the mirror, although I think he's starting to get it.




I love this picture. I love his big blue eyes, the bubbles in his mouth, and the cleft in his chin.




This week we made the big transition to sleeping in his crib...and I must say it's been hard on me. I love having him in our room, knowing he's safe and sound right by me. But he's not sleeping well in there (and neither am I), so we decided to move him...he's growing up way too fast for my liking!