Just To See You Smile....

...we'd do ANYTHING! Literally, anything. Our sweet Reid Bennett started smiling on September 10! He looked at me and smiled, but I wasn't sure if it was a "real" social smile or just gas :). But then, the next morning he was all smiles. My parents were at our house early because we were going to the Farmer's Market in Nashville and he was smiling at everyone. It was amazing! It still makes me tear up any time he does it. I say we'd do anything because we all but stand on our heads to try to get a smile out of him now and when he does, it is well worth the embarrassment!

SO many changes lately. Reid is REALLY holding his head up now. His favorite position to be held in is up on your should because he can hold that head up and look around. Its amazing to how much they change from one day to the next. I know I say that a lot, but its true. One day he can just hold his head for a second. The next day he's got it held up looking all around. So miraculous.

Other changes: He doesn't cry when he's getting his diaper changed anymore (well, sometimes, but rarely.) He also doesn't cry in the bathtub. In fact, he LIKES his bath now! If he's crying and you set him in there and start pouring water over him...ahhhh! He just starts looking around and relaxing. We love giving him his baths now. The witching hour is still here, but its getting better and not lasting as long now. Maybe we are just getting better at handling it? Probably.

We've been getting out with him a lot more which he likes! The kid adores being strolled. So we've been getting him out at least once a day in the stroller and in the fresh air. It seems to help him sleep better, too!

Our boy is growing like crazy and its wonderful and sad all at once. I already miss my sweet tiny buddy. Now he's just a sweet semi-tiny buddy. It's crazy to think that someday he'll tower over me! Blessings are abundant in the Hanks' Household. God is so good to us. We are so undeserving of his grace, but he showers it on us day by day, hour by hour. This lyric has been in my head all week and I hope to live it in my life....

"And when I'm doing well help me to NEVER seek a crown, for my reward is bringing glory to you."

Family Fun Day!

Today was the first day the three of us have really gotten out of the house together for an outing that wasn't church, grandparents house or the grocery store! We decided to take advantage of the PERFECT Tennessee weather today and go to the farmers market, dog park and the Greenway! Reid did great! I think he really loved being outside in the fresh air! Dylan had a blast of course and wore himself out. Then we came home, took naps and went to Target to stock the pantry. Today, I've really been reflecting on how blessed we are. I mean, I think about it every day, but just standing back and watching my little family...there are no words. Life is good. Every day is new and different and its so fun to watch Reid change and discover and grow. Love him.

Hello September

I can't believe it's already September! Where is the time going? We have been super busy here at the Hanks household. Reid has been having some tummy issues...which led to a doctors visit, which led to tests at Vanderbilt (*freak out*), which led to an ER visit, which led to acid reflux. Whew! We finally got it figured out and now R is on a new formula and is on some medicine for his reflux. All seems to be going well. I am so relieved that he seems to be feeling better. Talk about feeling helpless! :(

Apparently the "witching hour" has crept its way into our house. Like clockwork every night from 7-9ish Reid is fussy. He's not inconsolable, but we don't dare try to put him down. He's fine as long as one of us is cuddling him. It's hilarious. Then as soon as he has his 9:00 bottle, he's back in his bed passed out. It's so odd! But it could be worse. At least it's not in the middle of the night.

Reid is doing much better with his nights. He usually eats around 7, then we do a dream feed around 9 and he sleeps until 2am. Then Jes usually gets up to feed him and he sleeps until 5 or 6. Not too bad! There's light at the end of the tunnel!

He's really working on holding his head up. He loves to sit on his boppy and look around and get on his tummy on his boppy and try to move his head around. When I put him up on my shoulder he really holds his head up and it's like the cutest thing I've ever seen! Oh, how that child has us wrapped already! He's 10 weeks old this week, adjusted age 2 weeks. Still waiting on the first smile. It's all I want out of life right now :).

Sleep is overrated!!

Well, Reid is back to eating every three hours, which I like. BUT - I DO miss the nights when he was eating every four. :) I love my sleep, but I love Reid more so it's OK. He's totally worth the "drag yourself out of bed, stumble to the fridge for the bottle, diaper change in the dark, put the diaper on backwards, feed baby bottle with eyes closed" 3am feeding. I love him!

Yesterday was his due date! It's so hard to imagine that I would have had to wait that long to meet him! He'll be eight weeks old on Thursday! For some reason, hitting that due date was a huge relief to me. I think back to sitting in the NICU with him and hearing that he might not go home until his due date and thinking how far off that sounded and praying so hard that God would work miracles in his little body...that already seems like so long ago. The due date was always the day in my mind that we HAD to reach and even though we were home for 3 weeks when we reached it...it was still a huge accomplishment in my mind.

He has changed so much this past week since being a "full term" baby. He's holding his head up and moving it around a ton. I was burping him today up on my shoulder and instead of laying his head on my shoulder like he usually does he held it up and looked over at me and looked around. It was so cute!!! He's also making more baby noises. He is a LOUD eater! It's hilarious. He'll coo when I'm talking to him now. Not a lot, but sometimes. He is REALLY focusing on us now. He just stares me down. It melts my heart that he recognizes my voice when I walk into the room and looks for me. He sleeps like me according to Jesse. No matter how swaddled we have him at night, he is all sprawled out, arms above his head, legs everywhere when we go to get him for his bottle. He HATESSSSSS having his diaper changed. You'd think we were cutting his leg off by the way he cries. The second he hears the Velcro undo on the diaper he screams inconsolably. Then as soon as the new diaper is fastened...he stops. He looks around and is wide-eyed. We can't help but laugh at how dramatic he is. Bless him.


He loves music, especially worship music. He is a total church baby. He sleeps right through the loud music at church and his mommy holding him and jumping around during worship. Guess he got used to the loud music and me jumping around while he was still in my belly because he passes right out. Ha! Love that he loves it. I think he's going to be a lover of worship. At least that's our prayer for him since it's such a big part of our lives.

We are thankful to be under God's protection and favor. He showers us with blessings on a daily basis. Jes and I are in awe of all he's done for us. God of Wonders.....

Angry face... :)


Look at me lifting my head!!


Happy Baby!


So serious!


Getting love from his Grandmothers! SO spoiled!


Baby Dedication, August 8, 2010

Photography

I meant to include this in my post from the other day...

The picture at the top of my blog is by Kacey Randolph. This picture is the sneak peak she sent me of our newborn session. I am so excited to see the rest! Kacey makes you feel comfortable, confident and (as you can see from that precious pic of Reid) she brings out the best in those she is shooting! She also did our maternity photos...pictures that now mean so much to us.

Visit her website for more information about how to get this amazing photographer to capture your precious moments!

www.kaceyrandolph.com

Changes!

It always amazes me how quickly things change with Reid. Literally from one nap to the next he wakes up a new baby. It's incredible. This week all of a sudden between two feeds he went from eating 3oz to 4oz and going from 3 hours to 4 hours in between. I have to say that this has been a change that made momma happy! It's amazing what that extra hour does for us. That means only one middle of the night feed...more time to get things done during the day. I was able to clean my house today, do laundry, dishes, etc all from 6:30-10:30! The best thing has to be the extra sleep though...hands down!! And the even better part is that I feed him at 10:30 and then Jes gets up with him for the 2:30 and I get to SLEEP until 6:30. Let me do the math for you...that's EIGHT HOURS!! (Give or take 30 minute for getting up to check on him/put paci in mouth/etc.)

The only thing is that the child does NOT burp easily so about halfway between feeds he wakes up screaming and I go in, pick him up, he burps and then passes right back out. Don't know what else to do. Can't just sit and beat on the kid all night. Poor guy. I officially stopped nursing/pumping this week. It was a hard decision, but given the fact that my milk production never recovered after I checked out of the hospital and left without my baby...it was just not working. I was getting MAYBE 2oz per day and stressing like crazy and finally just decided to STOP stressing. I gave it my all for 6 weeks and now I am ready to just enjoy my baby and enjoy feeding him for the next 2 months. Yay me! But it was hard...

Reid is six weeks old TODAY and still 2 weeks away from his original due date. We took him to church for the first time last night! He did so great. Passed out for the whole worship service and then woke up to hear his Pastor preach. Just like he did when he was in my belly. God is so good. It's so humbling to see my baby grow and change and develop and know how far the Lord has brought us. Being the daughter of the King sure has it's perks.... :).

Loving life of Thursday.


Six Weeks Old!

First Trip to Church

Excited!

Well, yesterday I went my my school and told my principal I won't be back until October 1st!!! If I had gone full term with Reid this would have been my plan anyway, but when he came 2 months early we weren't sure what would happen. At one point I wasn't even sure if I would be able to take any time at all. That was a bad day.... But we prayed about it and the Lord opened all the right doors and not only am I getting to take August off, but I'm taking September, too! I am so thrilled! I never thought I'd get to have 3 months with my baby! We had always planned to save save save for when I have a baby so I could take time off and then I got pregnant unexpectedly and then gave birth two months early...things just didn't got according to plan :). So taking this time off is a HUGE step out in faith, but we just know that God has it covered. At my shower on Sunday when Kerri prayed she said, "Thank you God that nothing that's happened has been a surprise to you." And that gave me such peace. God has known what would happen all along and he's had his plan layed out perfectly for us and for Reid. How could we NOT have faith after what we've witnessed in our lives? God is the great provider and he will supply all our needs. We have NO reason to worry. He is faithful.

So, I'm just sitting back and enjoying being a "stay-at-home" mom right now and loving on my sweet baby. On another note, Reid slept for 4 hours at a time twice yesterday! I am so hoping he'll transition to an every 4 hour schedule soon and then skip a feed at night. Oh what I would do for that extra sleep!

We went and did newborn pictures with Kacey Randolph (Kacey Randolph Photography) and Reid was awake the WHOLE time! I couldn't believe it! She already sent me one picture and I cried! It was so precious. Kacey is amazing. Hire her for your pics if you haven't already! Can't wait to see the rest!!

Happy Tuesday!