3 months!

Three months already Micah! And what an exciting time we have had. You had a lot of firsts this month, ranging from your first plane trip to Florida (which you did AMAZING), your first time meeting Aunt Liza and Uncle Jeff, your first time to Disney, as well as your first time to Urgent Care. You are growing up so quickly Micah (weighing in at about 15 pounds), and we love you so, so much!

Things to remember:

• how much you have loved learning to "talk" - you seriously love to have conversations 90% of the time you are awake, cooing and babbling away
• how happy and smiley you are - almost all the time!
• how we were able to catch you in your first real belly laugh on the flip video...you make your dad and I light up every time we watch it
• how you are getting much better at traveling in the car with Mom by herself
• how your face just lights up once you are able to focus on us walking in the room, as well as your legs begin to move about like crazy from excitement
• how we video chatted with Dad while he was in India, and you clearly recognized him on the screen
• how much you absolutely LOVE your hands in your mouth. Every now and then you find your thumb, but really, you just love your whole hand and try to put both of them in your mouth at once.
• how you have become a big, big drooler
• how awesome of a night sleeper you have become, just at the time I had to go back to work. You started sleeping through the night literally the day before I went back.
• how you love to take everything in around you (which I guess you have been doing since birth) but it seems more specific now

We love you baby boy, and look forward to what surprises you have for us in month four!

Mommy's Answered Prayers

If you are reading my blog, you most likely know my story. It took us over 2 years and 3 miscarriages to arrive where we did this past May - with the birth of our beautiful baby boy. Through that time I had many, many people praying for me and supporting Christian and I while we went through quite a rough emotional, physical and spiritual journey.

At my baby shower here in Chicagoland, I received a very thoughtful onesie from my good friend Katie that brought tears to my eyes (and still does when I think about it) that read "Mommy's Answered Prayers." How true that one phrase is! Micah is a long awaited, perfect gift from God that was an answer to many people's (not just Mommy's) prayers.

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted my request." I Samuel 1:27

Yesterday Micah wore this onesie for the first time (officially in 3-6 month clothing, 2 days shy of 3 months). As I was dressing him in this onesie, I was reminded once again of God's faithfulness in our lives. And, of course, we had to do a little photo shoot to document the memory :) .

Laughter is the best medicine.

Bad days happen. It's a fact of life. But when you have a little one around, the good times with him always overshadow whatever trying circumstances you might be encountering. Yesterday was one of those days with Micah. Christian and I were doing household chores, trying to get our place back in order as much as possible after our kitchen disaster, and we came across a little froggy toy we had been given by Christian's aunt. As we were playing with Micah, we were able to capture his true enjoyment that just melts my heart. It gives me such delight to see the happiness exuding from our little boy. I LOVE being a parent!!

Waking Micah...or not

Here is our slightly unsuccessful attempt at trying to wake Micah up. Even Frodo tried to get in on the fun, but gave up after realizing he wasn't going to do any good, haha! We have four video clips of this sequence, and were finally successful by the time the 4th clip rolled around. This is the 2nd clip in the sequence, so we still had some work to do.

Tummy Time

Micah is getting stronger and stronger, and lately he has really been improving on his tummy time.  The pics below are taken on my first day back to work, after arriving home from the pediatrician in a much better mood...except for the first picture, which was taken by Noelle (my friend who is watching Micah while I'm at work) 4 weeks ago when she watched him as a trial run.

Micah at the Isaak's house  - 8 weeks old.

All the above are one session of tummy time.  Amazing how strong he is getting and able to raise his head up so far - 12 weeks old.

He may not look it in this picture, but Micah is clearly happy to be in my arms, haha!

First Day Back

So today was my first official day back to work - and what could be better than an unexpected trip to Dr. Natalie (Micah's dr.) after hearing from Noelle that he screamed and arched his back off and on for a little over an hour this morning.  This seemed to be the same thing, although much more intense, that we had taken him to urgent care for last week so I was conerned.  Leaving Dr. Natalie's we discovered the Micah definitely has silent reflux going on, and was given some preventative measures to take to see if it helps.  I'm praying that these are just rare and infrequent events and that Micah continues to be the smiley and happy boy that we have grown to know and love.

Talking to Noelle today, calling the pediatrician, leaving work early (which was doable today because kids weren't there yet) and rushing to the doctor reminded me again of the balancing act that working and being a mother are going to require...day one of being back.  I am grateful to have a job and grateful to have someone I wholeheartedly trust watching Micah, but it doesn't take away the fact that I wish Noelle hadn't had to deal with Micah's discomfort and that I wish I were there to be with my baby.  He is doing well though and we are thankful it was nothing more serious.

On a different note, Micah officially slept through the night for the first time 2 nights ago - Saturday, August 21st, sleeping from 8:50pm-6:25am.  I was so amazed, shocked, and happy to see my sleeping beauty the next morning, and couldn't believe I hadn't had to feed him once during the night.  He did it again on Sunday night, so I am praying this is starting to become a trend and not just a flukey couple of incidents.  Either way though, this gives me hope for what the future brings, and am so proud of my baby for all the growing up he is doing.

And one last piece of information - I ran 10 miles on Sunday at a faster than expected pace!  As I've said previously, we'll see how the training for this November marathon goes, but being able to get my first 10 mile run in post-Micah felt pretty good.  I'm right on track with the beginner training program, so we'll continue to see how it goes.

On that note - I am headed to bed.  It's been a long day and is about to repeat tomorrow, and I have no idea if Micah will be getting up sometime tonight or sleeping through again.  That means I need to "sleep when baby sleeps" right??!?  G'night!

Giving Thanks

Life can sometimes be difficult, and growing up is not always the most fun thing to do.  As I reflect on this summer, I am amazed at the number of events that have happened.  

• My grandpa passed away on May 27th after a long 4 months of health concerns
• Four days later, Micah was born, becoming the first grandchild on either side and our first child after 2 years of an emotional roller-coaster, including 3 miscarriages and 3 surgeries
• 10 days after Micah's birth, Christian had an emergency appendectomy
• That same night Frodo got out (for 16 hours) and I thought he was gone for good
• At the end of June, 1 day shy of Micah turning 4 weeks, I noticed our flooring peeling up in the kitchen and baseboards coming off they wall
• 7 1/2 weeks later, our kitchen is STILL the exact same way it was on July 1st  :(
• I started questioning whether Micah was colicky or not (and realize now how silly that way - but wow, weeks 3 - 6 1/2 were hard!)
• We took our first family vacation to Disney/Tampa area and Micah had his first airplane ride (doing absolutely amazing!!)
• Coming back from vacation, Christian leaves a week for India and Micah visits Urgent Care for the first time
• Work starts up again for me, and I now begin to realize the struggle in balancing wife, mom and professional career woman...

In all of this, I realize how absolutely blessed I am.

God has given me an amazing life, filled with its ups and downs, but treasures that I am so grateful to have!  I can't imagine life without Micah, and know that the journey over the last 2 years have brought me to where I am now.  I am so grateful for the family and friends that I have.  They are there for me through the ups and downs and stand by me 100% of the time.

And I am blessed to have people who care about me when I am going solo.  Having my sister move to West Africa at the beginning of August was hard for me to digest, as she was my only immediate family in the area.  Kari would always come over to hang out when Christian went on business trips to keep me company, and now she's gone...making it even more sad with Micah in the picture.  But as Christian has been in India this week, I have become Miss Social, being showered with generosity from my friends.  Thank you to all who take care of me when Christian is out of town - it means so much to know I am cared for.

And thank you Lord for the blessings you bestow upon my life.  How grateful I am!

Pool Day on Vacay:)

We had a great time at the pool the two days we went.  Granted, it's completely different with a baby - but probably better for our skin:)  Micah was not quite sure what to make of the water and sun, as shown from a few of his faces.  But when we were able to get him asleep, he cashed out!  As Uncle Jeff said of his nephew, he was "living the high life"!  It was fun to be able to go with him to the pool though, and the second time we went he actually started to warm up to the water a little bit (which would make sense, since he loves his bath time...as shown in a previous video clip, ha!).  Below are a few pics from the pool day that try and sum up our fun time.

Urgent Care - what?!?

Nothing like a little visit to urgent care on a nice Sunday morning.  Don't worry - all is fine - but we were slightly concerned about Micah's arching of the back and screaming to accompany for no apparent reason that we decided to have things checked out.  We had just arrived home from our long day of traveling (last night) and were trying to put Micah to bed when it seemed he might be constipated.  He was bearing down (as they say) and his face was getting really red, and then would start crying as in pain.  This went on for about an hour or so, and then things seemed to get better.  He didn't have the greatest night of sleep, but it wasn't horrible all factors included, so we thought things were okay.  This morning he was in the bouncy seat, all smiles, and then all of a sudden let out a shriek and arched his back, causing me to call the on call doctor, who sent us to urgent care.  After checking his vitals, ears, stomach, etc., Micah came back as a very healthy boy!  We were sure glad to hear that, and figured we probably overreacted, but we also know he's only 2 1/2 months old and were not willing to take chances.  Not looking forward to the bill, but thank you Jesus for a healthy boy!

Conversations with Micah

The two clips below show Micah "talking" with us. We can't seem to get him when he's at his best, because already he seems to know when the camera is on him and stops showing off, but still, this boy is so funny! Both clips are at 10 weeks.

This clip is of Micah taking a bath in the jacuzzi tub with me
Disclaimer: We had just come back from the pool, and decided it was easier to do this than have him "bathe" in the sink. I AM wearing a suit:)

This clip shows Micah talking with Christian after he had woken up from his 2nd morning nap. He is slightly "fussy" throughout the clip, but still talkative, nonetheless.

First Disney Trip

Christian and I love going to Disney - it's our 3rd trip since we've been together. And it's nice now to be able to pass on that love to our child(ren - hopefully:)). Granted Micah is quite young and won't remember this trip at all, we have the pictures as memories. We went to Epcot on Monday (and forgot our camera, believe it or not!) and to Hollywood Studios on Tuesday. Micah was a complete champ through the Disney experience, and I think he's already looking forward to his next trip, haha.

In front of Tower of Terror - waiting for Micah to wake up from his nap.

Still waiting...

And some more waiting...this time posing him with some sleeping and baby Mickey's:)

Look at that goober face - love it!

Family shot in Hollywood Studios.

In line at the Toy Story ride...which was crazy long, and we just happened to be in the right place at the right time...only waiting about 20 minutes instead of the average 110 minutes for this ride. It's the hot new item at Disney right now apparently.

Waiting to get our picture taken with either Buzz or Woody.

With Buzz Lightyear! Christian and I have taken a picture with a Pixar character each time we've gone (Monsters Inc, then the Incredibles...now Toy Story 3) and love adding our new addition to this tradition.

Such a cutie...getting his diaper changed in the wonderful Baby Care centers.

Waiting for Fantasmic to start - with a very tired little boy.

Micah's First Flight - ORD > MIA >TAM

Christian and I might have been slightly ambitious in planning our first vacation post-Micah at 9 1/2 weeks, but, here we are! We had been debating between San Diego and Orlando, and were swayed by knowing we could see Jeff and Liza and have them meet their nephew for the first time. So, using frequent flier miles, we booked our trip to Tampa with an hour layover in Miami. When we went to double check the times the day before leaving, we discovered the flight had changed causing a 3 hour layover instead. Ughh!! We were a bit apprehensive about the whole trip out, but I am so happy to say that Micah did amazing! He got a bit cranky boarding the plane at 10:30pm in Miami, but really, who could blame him? He had had such a long day and after 2-3 minutes of crying before take-off, was an absolute angel the rest of the time. He slept through the flight, baggage pick-up, shuttle to the rental car, drive to Jeff and Liza's, and finally woke up after being carried inside at 1:30am. Now we are just praying for the same great traveling on our way back home!

Sleeping soundly on the first leg of the flight.

Chillin' with Dad in Miami.

Our make-shift bed during the layover.

Micah and Christian - tired and ready to be at our final destination.

Video of Micah at Miami airport - 9 1/2 weeks.

Visit with the Roomies

I'm running a little behind on my blog postings, so this will be short. But last weekend, right after Micah had his 2 month check-up at the doctors, we had a wonderful day hanging out with my old roomie from college Beth and her adorable daughter Laney. We haven't seen Beth in 4 years, and obviously had not met Laney, so it was great to see her and her daughter. Laney is such a cutie!!

We do have the blessing of living close to my other roomie Katie and her family (ie, Josh and Ellie) so we get to see them a bit more often. But it was so fun for the three of us to be together with our children - mine in a much calmer, immobile state, ha! - and look at how much has changed since college. And then to think about how much has stayed the same. You know you have great friends when you can get together after such a long time and pick up right where you left off. Now, if only Julie had been able to join us from Germany...oh well...next time, right:)?

Josh did not want to be on the couch - he thought behind would be much better:)


Laney was intrigued by Micah...looks like it's time for a sibling, haha!


Although Micah is a big boy, he looks so small here with the other kids!

Pretty much what Micah did while we spent the majority of the weekend at the Hartman house.

Love all the roomies...miss you Jules!