Tag: Parenting

17 & 18 months

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Wow, what a past couple of months it has been! Our little boy is becoming the sweetest little man I could have ever asked for. Of course, he’s ornery as can be but that’s what keeps me on my toes! ❤️

We didn’t add any new travel to Zayden’s list this month, but within the last month was the first time I left Zayden with someone else for over 24 hours, let alone traveled across the US for 4 nights. It was so sad (for me) but he seemed to be content with my family keeping him busy!

I can’t even keep track of all the new words he says because every day it’s something different. Like today I told him to “Get Down” (off the table because safety kid) but he looks at me and said get down. 😂 He hasn’t been putting multiple words together until the past couple of days and it’s really throwing me off guard!

Zayden, you know a few colors: purple, blue, white, black and nana (which is translation for yellow)

Also, a few letters (and there is no rhyme or reason to these letters but for some reason you know them: B, Z, Y, O, D, S, and sometimes you’ll actually get A right, but still working on the rest of the alphabet.

You know a ton of numbers but you think they are all 2. 😂😂 So we have a little work to do in that department.

You’re going through a picky eating stage, but a few things stay consistent like yogurt (your fave), oranges, blueberries,PBJ, beans, sushi, shrimp, sweet potatoes, cheese sticks mac-n-cheese, cheese quesdillas, cheese enchilada, grilled cheese…see a trend? Recently mama has gotten smart and started making “cheese” home made hot pockets but hiding veggies in them which surprisingly works.

We are done breastfeeding. Whaaaat. I’ve kept a little more quiet about breastfeeding up until 17.5 months because honestly I was tired of people’s comments. “You haven’t cut him off yet?” Etc etc etc. Y’all should be applauding any mama for feeding their child let alone nursing for this long! But that part of our journey is over and you did great with it bub!

You still love to read and paint and color everything! Thankfully, we got smart and got you those magic markers that only color on certain things!

Every day I am blown away by what new thing you’ve learned or can say or do. I’m also blown away how high you can climb in seconds. 🤦 You’re going to give me a heart attack before I’m 34, but this is what I’m told boy life is like! And we love every single minute of it.

So proud and thankful to be your mama.

“Maybe that someone else is looking for us.” | Adoption things

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Let’s talk adoption. It’s literally been on my mind every day for the past 4+ years. I’ve gone back and forth sharing this but I just keep going through things in my head and if you know me, it’s a complete mess up there so sometimes it’s best for me to write out my thoughts. So let’s do this…

Adoption has always been a constant tug at our hearts. For me, this leads back all the way to my highschool days when I decided adoption was going to be apart of my path. Thankfully, I met this awesome guy and one of our first date questions was… How do you feel about adoption? His response was he hadn’t thought about it but he definitely would. So to say adoption has been on our hearts for awhile is an understatement.

We’ve been through adoption process once with a lousy agency that we ended up having to drop and started over with a new one. This was beyond frustrating and exhausting. You feel like you’re trying to change the world one life at a time and the odds are against you every step of the way. Paperwork upon paperwork, FBI fingerprint cards (that can only be done on Tuesday mornings from 8-10 am at a location 20 min away and every time you schedule to go something comes up) more paperwork, some dinero you’ve been saving, more paperwork, physicals, drug tests, home studies, collecting references, making emergency plans, and more paperwork is what the process consists of basically, and alot of patience and prayers.

We decided it was best to move forward with another agency and start over. This agency we felt much more confident in, but of courss there was a little hesitation in trusting the process again. About a year go, we started wondering if we were going down the right path, we knew adoption was apart of our path but was this agency right for us? Maybe we were supposed to look into another? Maybe? What was God telling us? So we decided to take a break from the process and decided to just listen and see what He laid out for us. We explored different agencies and fell in love with a smaller one, but then hit a wall. We were actually turned down for the time being, because we had a child under the age of one. Besides this being completely baffling to me, this was God telling us to keep looking elsewhere. We listened some more. All we could hear was adoption? adoption? fostering? adoption? And after each one, we heard question marks, which left us a little confused, so we continued to take the time we needed to discern. We explored the world of fostering and we both feel that’s likely apart of our journey in the future but not just yet. Adoption just keeps powerfully being told to us. We always knew it was apart of the journey, but through who, why was this fantastic agency we’ve worked with not standing out to us?

I continue to feel a little one wants us. I feel it everyday, I literally have that gut feeling in this exact moment. Is there someone feeling something similar? Is there a young mom or dad looking for a family like us to let us adopt their child? Maybe? Maybe we adopt through this agency but maybe not. God knows and I just can’t seem to understand. God also knows I don’t always listen real well and sometimes I can be a bit stubborn, so He probably is telling me I just don’t seem to follow. We’ll keep listening though, patiently.

In the meantime, I will continue to share the journey God has given us. And maybe, just maybe you’re hearing a voice telling you to share our story with someone else. Maybe that someone else is looking for us. ❤️

16ish months

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The days are moving faster and I feel like less time is being spent with Zayden. Probably not, but it seems like he just doesn’t need as much attention from us as he did when he was a wee little baby. He’s climbing up into the chair by himself, eating by himself (when he chooses to eat and not throw it on the floor), picks books up and reads them to himself…or really just points out the animals he likes best. He throws trash away, and sometimes the remote, my cell phone, basically anything that can go in the trash can does. 😂

Zayden says more and more words every single day and it blows me away the amount of information he takes in. He truly is our little miracle and he shows us that every single day!

Some new things we have done the past month is:

Travel to Hawaii, it took me 34 years to make it to HI and you got to in your first 2 years!

First haircut – which was super terrible, so you also got your second haircut the following day 😂

Mastering the stairs like the little climber you are!

First dentist appointment which went surprisingly well and you received an great report from them!

Sleeping has gone from not bad to beyond pitiful but we are patient and will continue to love on you on bad nights. It will pass and we know it.

This has been a good month bub, as every month is with you. ❤️ Now let’s reminisce on this haircut transformation! Where did my little boy go?

Living with a 1-Year Old

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Life has been crazy keeping up with a 1-year old! I still can’t believe he has grown so much and developed are sweet and ORNERY personality! Everyone that hangs out with Z talks about how sweet he is, what they don’t always get to witness is the crazy side of him. I mean, as I am typing this he has accidentally given me a black eye from “fake falling” on my face. lol

It’s been a little exhausting keeping up lately. Teething has taken over our nights and early mornings which has led to minimal sleep again, but that will pass soon (or so I hope)😴

Some new things little man has been doing this month is running around nonstop, being more interactive most of the time vs not, picking up his messes but making them more than not, and being extra affectionate which I will take a sloppy kiss from that sweet boy any day! ♥️. He has also said a few more words so we wanted to write them down to remember them! Of course the norm, like mom and dad and bubba (whoever that is):

Bubbles

Butt bomb (haha, is that a bad word?)

Della

Water

Baseball

Bath

Della (apparently she’s his favorite)

Backpack

Jesus – thank you to some kids songs the says this with conviction!

Yes

Baby

Woah

And a few others I can’t seem to think of…

Keeping up with a 1-year old brings a whole different level of love, happiness, patience, joy…all of which we just are reminded daily that he is worth every second. Thank you God for giving us such a sweet, ornery boy in our lives.

1 Year Old | Zayden Gray | My Superman

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Over a year ago, we sat in a hospital room talking to our doctor about how we only had 2 embryos that have survived and they were so poor they couldn’t even rate them. They asked us if we wanted to proceed forward and try anyways… With no real hope, we prayed over those 2 embryos every day and today we have a healthy 1-year old. Cue the tears 😭.

What a superhero, little miracle, blessing from God you are Zayden Gray. We have spent 365 days with you in our arms or chasing you around. You have kept us on our toes each and every day as we figure out this whole parenting thing!

We have gone through so many firsts with you, firsts that I normally wouldn’t think twice about but we have cherished every single one. I can’t wait to see how the rest of our future goes together! ♥️

A few things you’ve learned this month:

Learned how to climb a ladder

Being more affectionate, especially with the puppies. They love Z’s hugs & kisses

Say a few new random words (backpack, phone, baseball)

Going up & down stairs 😬 which happens to be your new fave game.

Causing destruction

More teeth – molars this time!

Being a little daredevil 😬😬

Using utensils

And the best part …starting to look like your mama! ♥️

Your first year in pictures:

11 Months | Zayden Gray

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I just can’t….you are growing up way too fast little man! Today you are 11 months and we will be celebrating your first birthday before we know it!

We started this month off in California but stayed close to home for the rest of the month, besides a quick trip to hang with your cousin John while we did a shoot in Kansas City. God was looking out for our schedule this month because we spent most of it passing a little sickness around. Luckily, you managed to break away from it after a couple of days.

This month you’ve really been trying to master your walk. You choose to walk most places, unless you need to get there fast and you stick with your power crawl 😂. Some other things new you’ve been doing this month:

*Kick and throw balls

*Say “mmmmmm” when you really love your food, but you close your eyes and say it, which makes it even cuter.

*Says, “I love you” or it sounds really close!

*You can find your ears, nose, toes and private parts but I’m pretty sure all boys don’t have an issue finding them.

*You still only recognize dogs, cows and birds as animals, apparently they are your favorite.

*We made our first trip to the Amazeum which was fun overload for you!

*We did our first painting, and I must say you’re quite the artist! 😊

*Ollie and Della are your favorite puppies this month but you really want Charlie to be your best friend. Maybe one day…

*You give hugs & kisses way more frequently and it just melts this Mama’s heart! You can never get enough of those, especially when they aren’t asked for but just random ones. ♥️

I can’t help but remember how long the process was to get you. We struggled for so long for you. You may not be our only little man but you are the only one we’ve gotten to hold, receive hugs and kisses from, and get to watch grow in front of our eyes. We are so thankful for you Zayden and cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings!

10 Months – What? How!

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Oh my word you are growing and growing you are not so little man! 10 months?! Let me say that again so it sinks in…10 months have flown by and I can’t believe in 2 months we will be holding a one-year old!

Some changes have happened over the past month, but you became boss man to me, which means mama won’t be home as late as she normally is! Other changes you’ve been going through are:

  • A couple of steps here and there, but not full on walking yet. I assume that’ll happen when we forget you can actually walk! 😂
  • Peek-a-boo & chasing mom/dad are still your jam.
  • Ollie has become your favorite pup.
  • 1 1/2 new teeth have been added to your collection.
  • Your athletic ability is really coming out – stacking things, throwing balls (or throwing anything for that matter), and crawling through tunnels.
  • We are officially on watch for an attempted escapist. Once, you pushed the kitchen chair all the way to the door just to attempt to unlock the door. Not thrilled about this new trick, but pretty cute!
  • Your booty dance is on point. 😂
  • We took your 12th flight and traveled all the way to San Francisco to see the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Muir Woods, Big Sur, first zoo and aquarium and subway ride. And I can’t forget to mention meeting with friends you’ve never had a chance to meet til this month! We actually got to celebrate your 10 month with ice cream and hanging out with the Joneses!
  • You’re starting to become more cuddly and wanting to lay down with us without us trying to force a nap. This is a moment we don’t want to forget. All these are moments we don’t want to forget!

Zayden, you are such a blessing to everyone you meet and I cannot imagine life without you! I can’t wait to see what the next month brings us!

9 Months

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Hey little man, slowwww down! Zayden continues to make us smile each and every day! Recently, I went back and re-read the beginning of our blog, the beginning of our story and it just reminded me how much of a blessing he is!

Some new changes:

Standing up! This one is huge, he actually stands up when he’s distracted and will stand for awhile, but once he figures out he’s standing he falls to the ground like he isn’t ready just yet, but will be walking soon!

Sleep is our friend! Naps and bedtime have been fully embraced by you…so until next regression that is bound to come, we will enjoy our sleep with you!

We had to move your bed down a notch because you are master escape artist already and we didn’t want to give you more of an opportunity to escape. I’m not kidding – you have figured out how to open doors and drawers, and this morning you figured out how to climb on me to open outside door. So momma will be installing more complicated locks soon!

You love to dance, with us and on your own.

You’re a peek-a-boo champion. You’re so good, you even like to play peek-a-boo with yourself! 😂

Bottom lip manipulator – gosh, when did you get so good at this??

Speaking of that bottom lip, you’ve finally figured out what “No” means and you use your bottom lip appropriately. It works most of the time but I’m not going to tell you that.

Climbing stairs is your new hobby! Of course baby gates have been installed, but if we are with you we will let you master those stairs more.

Getting down (and on) the couch, bed, basically anything taller than you, you’re figuring out how to get on and off (feet first)

You are waking up on your own and patiently waiting (for the most part) for us to get you! And the sweet hugs first thing in the morning are my new favorite thing.

You traveled 8 hours in a car to KC to see your friends, Harlow & Kylie. This was a huge achievement because you have your carseat so much but you survived and we survived. And you loved playing with your friends!

Throwing a ball or anything that resembles a ball. Your aim is a wee bit off, but you’re loving playing fetch and tossing ball back and forth (especially with your cousins – they make things so much more fun!)

The dogs are still your best friends and they love you more every single day, it could be the food you throw at them on the daily, but you never know! 😂

You love your walker! On of your favorite games is running after us screaming as you try to catch us. I’m sure we look like a bunch of maniacs but it is sure fun bub!

Babble, babble, babble. I don’t know what you’re saying 99.9% of the time but you are confident in your speech! Ha.

Currently you are a little clingy to me but I’m enjoying every single moment. I know this time will pass and I’ll have to share more of your hugs with others, but until then I’ll just enjoy this time.

Kisses & Goodbyes – we’ve been working on kisses and goodbyes for a month or so and you’re a bit stingy with both!

You continue to be such a sweet, calm (mostly), chill little man and we really couldn’t have gotten any luckier! You truly a miracle we will never forget that. We love you bub ..keep being your ornery, playful little self! ❤️

8 Months

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Ah bubs..I start to tear up thinking you’re already 8 months old! ❤️ You have been growing so fast and blowing through “milestones” I can barely keep up!

The last couple of months you knew how to crawl but it was a slow/army crawl but overnight you’ve become a speed crawler, like we could enter you into the Olympics if it was an event!

You’re pulling up on everything, up-down-up-down and you want to walk with us everywhere. You have mastered walking in your walker, you just need to figure out how not to run into everything! We may actually master walking on our own this month, we shall see!

We went from 4 to 6 teeth this month!

We took our first family photos and you did it without crying one time. We were prepared for a meltdown because trust us, most kiddos have one before or during a photo session, but I think you’ve embraced this child of photographers life and went with it for us!

We added one more flight back from New Mexico in your 8th month, making it a total of 14 flights, 9 states and 1 country which is pretty cool you traveling fool!

You’re currently “too cool to smile” but you can’t hide it very well.

Buddy you are sleeping through the night (woohoo!). Thanks to a few mom friends, we got through a little tough phase, and now you are sleeping through the night, from 7:30-5 am, but once 5 am hits you’re awake and back to your wild man lifestyle. We’re still working on this nap life but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. You do good, as long as someone is napping with you, which I’ll just soak that in as long as I can.

You’re a bit of a daredevil, loving to “fall” and letting us catch you, pulling yourself up on questionable things, and balancing yourself on dad’s hand!

You have gone to your first wedding (Uncle Will & Aunt Whit’s) and you’ve had your first sleepover at the house with Liam!

Dancing is your jam and doing the “monster face” has become a daily thing (my favorite).

We are still working on a few signs like “milk” & “more” but we haven’t quite figured those out yet!

Bub – we love you more than you possibly could imagine. You have made this parenting thing a breeze (so tough, but you’ve made it so enjoyable that we forget the tough moments). We can’t wait to see what the future holds and where we adventure to next! Keep on growing little man! ❤️

7 Months

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Well, sweet little man you are growing up way too fast!! You keep us on our toes and before long you’ll be running around the house and we won’t be able to keep up!

A few changes you’ve gone through:

  • You’ve grown so much – height and weight, like are you really only 7 months old or are you really not 1 and we just skipped some months?
  • You are saying mama and dada – not always when we ask you to but you are definitely saying them.
  • Starting to wave!
  • Demanding food (but in a super cute way by smiling and slapping your hand on the table) -I am sure I’ll regret teaching you this one day but for now it’s ridiculously adorable.
  • Crawling more, you have been army crawling for awhile now but finally pushing up on your arms more. Who knew someone could army crawl that fast!
  • We have gone from 2 teeth to 4!
  • Just recently you’ve allowed us to actually put you down for naps, instead of holding you through each one – this is still bittersweet for me. I’ll hold you any day bub.
  • Recognizing your friends!
  • Interacting with new people (especially littles), before you would just look at little ones and continue on your own business but now you engage & play!
  • Pulling yourself up and trying to stand (with a little assistance)

Things you still love:

  • You still are very much in love with your Johnny Jumper and want to “Jump Around” House of Pain style every day.
  • Loving bath time and splashing so much it looks like I took a bath by the end of it.
  • Food, especially chicken, it is your current favorite!
  • Pulling on your mom’s hair & your Dad’s beard
  • Puppy cuddles!

Things you’re over:

  • The Nose Frida – you would much rather suffer through the congestion.
  • Diaper & clothe changes – haha, you just don’t understand why you need these things and we have to burn about 300 calories per diaper change.
  • Sleeping at night, we still haven’t mastered this one but teething hasn’t helped you a ton. We will get it though!

You have spent your first bro night with your dad and you both survived, I on the other hand barely survived because it was my first night away from you! You also have spent the entire day away from us and with your nanny (coolest nanny ever) and you didn’t even bat an eye! We took 2 plane rides without dad – you were the best baby I could ask for too! Taken a boat ride with Grandma & Grandpa Neighbors and enjoyed the pool at Grandma & Grandpa Vinsons! We’ve traveled to another state, New Mexico and taken your 10th flight to get there! ❤️

So many more adventures are in store for us and I wouldn’t want to spend these new adventures with anyone else!