Liam

This is my beautiful baby boy Liam James Johnston - born 6/22/13, 8 pounds 8 ounces, 20 1/4 inches long!

6/22/14
One Year Old
My baby is one, my baby is one...how did that happen?  I don't think time has gone by any faster than it has this past year.  Maybe it's the lack of sleep that makes all of the days blend together, maybe it's constantly being on the go, maybe it's working full time and raising a little boy...whatever it is...it has flown by!

Liam's One Year Stats:
22 pounds 12 ounces (he's lost some weight since he became mobil)
29 inches tall (maybe more but he would not fully straighten his leg)
Crawling like a mad man!
Cruising along furniture, walls, chairs, basically anything.
Will walk with you holding just one hand.
Says - mom, mama, dada, Ella, yay, yes, ay ay ay, hi (all when he feels like it)
Waves bye bye
Can identify the following in his picture book (again when he is in the mood): banana, dog, cat, car, sleeping, two dogs (doggies)
Loves:
Ella and Thunder
Walking
Being outside
His red wagon
His tricycle
Grambo (sorry he's def his favorite)
Birds
Trucks and Cars
Swimming
Hugging
Smiling
People
The Grocery Store
Feeding himself
Throwing everything!
Talking
Cheerios...he will drop everything for Cheerios

Does not like:
Being tired
Large dogs barking at him
Being confined when he wants to go
Not getting his way

5/22/14
11 Months
Ok Seriously where did the time go?  I cannot believe we will be celebrating this little boy's birthday next month!
11 Month Stats:
4 teeth and 2 on the way!
25+ pounds (honestly we haven't weighed him in awhile so I am guessing).
30 inches (roughly)
He is a crawling machine and has recently become a standing master.  He can currently walk along the couch and coffee table with increasing ease.  He can crawl very quickly when he wants to and literally does not stop moving until he falls asleep.
He is finally drinking like a normal baby...averages 30 oz a day now!  We don't have to brib him with pear juice anymore:)
He's eating and feeding himself very well.  We are working on taking bites out of things and I plan to start teaching him how to use a straw soon.
He loves riding in the backpack!
He loves our dogs...especially Ella!
He loves watching Daddy mow the lawn!
He knows the word "No" and usually listens.
He says "mom" "mama" "dada" and "Ella" (or what sounds like Ella)

4/22/14
10 Months

Oh how did my little booger get to be 10 months old??
He is 22+ pounds and roughly 28 inches tall!
He has 4 teeth...two top and two bottom...boy those two top teeth were a doosy!
He is rolling all over the place and crawling backwards...not forwards.
He can sit himself up from his tummy.
He can feed himself finger foods...Cheerios are his favorite!
He wants to do his bottle by himself too...but still working on it!
He sleeps about 11 hours each night, give or take.  He is great at putting himself to sleep...but we plan on taking the paci away so I am sure we will have a few bumpy nights soon.
He LOVES to play...he literally does not stop until he passes out sleeping.
He is not napping as much during the day...sometimes only one nap...those days are tough for mommy!
He LOVES his doggies!  But he pinches more than he pets.
He gives high fives!
He claps!
He is starting to point...or point his hand towards things he wants.
He takes guided steps really well and is holding himself up on things better every day!
Smiling is his favorite:)
He calls me mom...and my hearts melts every time!
He is such a blessing and such a joy!

March Milestones
All of a sudden Liam decided to hit a bunch of milestones!  He started rolling over both ways, feeding himself, understanding that if he puts a toy in the hole it comes out the bottom, and stacking his toys.  Enjoy these proud moments!

3/22/14
9 Months Old

3/6/14
8 Months
Tooth #2 popped up!
Liam gets really red cheeks, a runny nose and is fussy when a tooth comes in.
We now have our two bottom teeth:) 

3/1/14
First Hair Cut
Liam's hair was getting out of control so I asked my wonderful hair stylist to trim it a bit.  She did a great job and Liam was such a good boy!
Check out the video!

 

2/22/14
8 Months Old

 20 pounds 9 ounces
27 inches tall
Eating three solid meals a day...each one about 4 - 6 ounces.
Nursing 4 times a day...one bottle during the week at daycare.
Rocking back and forth looking like he's about to crawl.
1 tooth popped through...acting like there are more coming.
Eats green veggies and prunes really well.
Loves his doggies.
Talking like crazy!  Says "ma" when he looks at me sometimes.  Says "Ba Ba" towards Jason.
Napping without his sleep sack!

My baby is growing up so fast!

2/13/14
7 Months Old - almost 8 Months
We have our first tooth!!!

1/22/14
7 Months Old

About 19+ pounds now!
Only about 26 inches tall...he's a shorty!
LOVES: mommy and daddy, watching the dogs, playing with his toys, lunging for everything, eating solid food, chewing on his hands and everything in sight, and riding in his stroller.
Cannot believe 7 months have passed!

He's been sleeping much better lately!  Having trouble with his diapers at night though...they keep leaking even with a diaper booster pad inside!!  Any tips mommies??  I swear he must pee like 10 times at night!  We did have one rough night this week where all he wanted was to sleep next to me in bed.  Literally put his nose right on mine and fell right to sleep.  It was adorable but mommy lost lots of sleep that night!

Milestone today!!!  (1/25/14)
He fell asleep in his Halo Sleep Sack...meaning his arms were free for the first time!  We will see how long he sleeps.  But we may be free of any kind of sleeping assistance soon:)

Fingers crossed we get a normal length of a nap!

xoxo,
Molly


1/8/14
200 Days Old

On Wednesday my little chunker turned 200 days old!  I cannot believe how fast these past 6 months/200 days have gone!  Time really does fly when you have a baby!
You're probably wondering...how the heck does she know he's 200 days old?  Well, you know how they have you keep track of the wet/messy diapers in the hospital when your baby is born?  We never stopped.  At first it was just to make sure he was on track and eating enough and then we kept it going once he went to the first daycare...which was good cause they were AWFUL!  (See my Working Mom Woes Page for that story).  Now we keep it going with his current daycare so we are all informed on how his day has gone.  I use the sheets to keep track of his naps, what new foods he's trying, when he has Tylenol or Motrin (for teething) and when he has his teething tablets.  It's kind of a catch all sheet at this point.  Some may think it is anal and overkill, but I like to know what my baby has been up to all day.  It has come in handy when we need to back track and look for patterns to help us figure out what may be ailing Li Li.  For instance - we just looked back to see when he started getting constipated since starting solids.  We have figured out it may be due to the sweet potatoes we introduced...because it's a white sweet potato it is more starchy and binding.

Anyways - I wanted to share my little guy's 200 day milestone:)

We did not notice this birthmark until after being home a few weeks.  Newborns clench their fists for a long time, plus Li Li wore those mittens for a long time to keep from scratching his face.  One day when I finally took the mittens off and he opened his hand I saw this perfect little heart!  The dermatologist told us it's an Angioma (totally harmless) and may fade by the time he is three.  I hope it stays forever<3

xoxo,
Molly



1/3/14
6 Month Check up Stats
Weight = 18 pounds 9 ounces (my lil chunker)
Height = 25 1/4 inches
2 shots in each leg:(
1 oral vaccine
Only cried for a little bit:(
He was a trooper!

Pediatrician recommended we do two meals a day for Liam and hope that keeps him full through the night!  Gonna start that tonight!!  She also told us that he is most likely not rolling very much because of his chunky status:)  He may skip it altogether and just begin crawling.  Puts my mind at ease.  For my fellow mommies of chunky babies...don't stress the milestones!

xoxo,
Molly

12/31/13
My Journey to Motherhood

Pregnancy to Birth

It was October 17, 2012 at 5:30AM when I found out I was going to be a mom for the first time.  Two pregnancy tests confirmed it, and moments after I saw the "yes" and two pink lines on the test strips, I jumped into bed to excitedly tell my husband.  Now my husband is a heavy sleeper so he was not quite sure what was going on at first.  We were very lucky to conceive on our third try - third time is the charm right?  Excited was an understatement! 

Pregnancy

Pregnancy was a road filled with many obstacles and trying moments.  I had been dreaming of this blissful, wonderful pregnant experience, and unfortunately that did not come to fruition.  Now, I never had any life threatening or serious complications, but my 39 week and 4 days journey was not blissful. 

 You name it, I experienced it - from morning sickness (which was really all day sickness, or 8 to 3 the length of my work day) to every ache and pain you can imagine.  I am a worrywart by nature so you can imagine how much fun I had through each new pain I felt.  The scariest part was the day I almost passed out while at work.  I was sitting at my desk when all of a sudden I started to get that "I'm going to faint" feeling.  Just as I was about to put my head on my desk, I felt a bubble go from mid chest to my throat and then I felt better.  As soon as work was over I went to the doctor to make sure me and baby were OK.  According to the doctor, baby was probably sitting on a blood vessel and then moved just in time, hence the bubble. 

By month eight, I was done.  I was not sleeping, and was uncomfortable all day, every day.  My wonderful husband bought me one of those pregnancy body pillows, which was great until I was bigger than the pillow.  On that note, why do people think it is OK to comment on how huge you look when you're pregnant?  It's really the last thing we need to hear.  We are growing a human...yes we look large!  Anyway - I made it through my last week of work at 37 weeks and was finally able to just sit at home and be pregnant.  I had it in my head that I was going to deliver early...like 3 weeks early.  That did not happen.  I had about 2 full weeks of waiting at home for my little guy.  No one knows the intense feeling of anticipation like an uncomfortable pregnant woman.  I was still horribly afraid of labor, but I was more ready to be not pregnant! 

Liam's Birth Story - 39 weeks and 4 days

All I have to say is 2 things - God bless my doctor for stripping my membranes and God bless Costco!  It wasa sunny Friday morning on June 21st, 2013.  My husband was finally on baby leave and we decided to hit up Costco after my doctor's appt. to stock up on some final things before baby arrived.  At my doctor's appt. he offered to strip my membranes (which I highly recommend, even though uncomfortable) because I was about 50% effaced and 2cm dilated.  He did that at about 8:30AM.  We finished our shopping at Costco and, well, you can't go to Costco without getting a hotdog and soft serve ice cream...at least not while pregnant.  At 12:20PM, right as I sat down to enjoy my hotdog, I felt a small gush down there.  My first thought was, "Ugh bladder get it together."  But it felt like more than that, but not like that huge gush they tell you about when your water breaks.  So I decided to enjoy my hotdog.  I did notice that my lower back started to ache quite a bit as lunch progressed.  As we walked to the car I mentioned all of this to my husband, who is very good at brushing things off and trying to calm my fears.  But it kept bugging me, the "what if it was my water breaking," thought.  When we got home I called my doctor and they said to go to the hospital to get checked out just in case.  I immediately started crying because even though you anticipate labor happening for so long, you still feel totally caught off guard when it does.

When we got to the hospital, they hooked me up to the contraction monitor and the fetal heartbeat monitor (which I love).  Turns out I was having mild contractions and my water was leaking because somehow the bag must have torn.  So we were admitted at about 2PM and my 18 hour journey began!  

Here's a breakdown of how those 18 hours went:

* My blood pressure sky rocketed as soon as I went into labor.  Scary stuff!

* My doctor was MIA so I met this strange man who would deliver my baby for the first time that day,

* My nursing staff was amazing!

* Our families drove up immediately thinking I would deliver quickly (oops wrong).

* I walked that hallway a lot!

* I thought I could handle contractions until they really broke my water and then I was done after about an hour!  I cannot even describe the pain.  Those of you who labored longer or without meds at all I bow down to you, because I don't know how you did it.

* Epidurals are really not that scary, when you are in that much pain!  I could not stop shaking while he was performing the procedure and was so worried I would be paralyzed.  He told me that it was OK and normal because I was in a lot of pain.

* I did not progress from 3cm for hours!  I got my epidural at midnight and went from 3cm to 8cm in an hour!  Whoo hoo!  Just as everyone was going to try and take a nap...myself included.  Nope time to get ready to push soon!

* My epidural did not work perfectly.  I kept feeling contractions on one side and then the other so I had to keep rolling from side to side to get it to work for awhile.  

* I started pushing at 4:10AM.  My epidural decided not to work AT ALL once I started pushing so I felt EVERYTHING while I pushed.  Ouch is all I have to say about that...

* Doctor walked in at 5:20AM...seriously they get all the glory but my nurse who was with me the whole night was amazing!

* My husband totally delivered Liam!  Slapped on those gloves and guided his head, shoulders and whole body out!  

* At 5:46AM, on June 22nd, 2013 my beautiful Liam joined us!  My first thought when I saw him was, "Oh my gosh he is huge!"  8 pounds and 8 ounces looks huge after you push it out of your body! 

* I felt every stitch my doctor used after Liam joined us...not cool!  I said, "I can feel that!"  He said, "Just one more."  LIAR

* The moment my husband placed Liam on my chest was by far the most magical moment of my life!  He looked right up at me and stole my heart.  I did not know I could love someone so much upon first sight.

* Liam had jaundice and my blood pressure was out of control so we had to stay an extra two days in the hospital.  I HATE HOSPITALS!  

* We had to keep Liam under a special light all day and night.  Poor little guy had to wear special goggles.  To this day he hates having things over his eyes. 

* Going home was the best day ever:)

My blood pressure regulated within 2 weeks, with the help of some meds.  Liam never turned yellow from jaundice and was OK the moment we got home. 

Now the real work started...parenting...

This is our beautiful little boy at his 6 month photo shoot courtesy of his Aunt Sarah!

December 25th, 2013

These boys are my whole world!