motherhood

I can't believe it's been almost a year since my last post.

Andy and I found out I was pregnant the day after my last post. That was a really good day. (Honestly, I don't remember the details of the day, but the positive home pregnancy test was thrilling, so everything else was bound to fade into the background anyway.)

Pregnancy was...interesting. It's kind of gross at times, uncomfortable most of the time, and completely amazing all the time. Growing a life inside you, man. Pregnancy is nuts!

More on that later.

He came on a Tuesday in November. Labor was long (more on that later, too), but I'll never forget the feeling of meeting my baby boy for the first time. He screamed a bit as they cleaned him up, but then he quieted down and looked around.

It's such a crazy, sacred thing, meeting your human for the first time. So many thoughts and emotions coursed through my mind and my heart, but the thought that really hit me full-force was his sweet perfection. He was so beautiful and healthy, AND I MADE HIM! With Andy! He was ours, and he was so precious!

He came out with the cutest little pout. That lower lip of his is the cutest thing, and he's mastered a devastatingly pathetic and overwhelmingly darling pouty face. (It usually protrudes when I stop him mid-feed to burp, or when we're not dressing him fast enough after a bath.)

We've named our little guy Thomas.

Thomas Wade.

He changed our world as only a baby can, and we are completely smitten over our little guy.

I think he was three days old here.

I swear that baby smiles are more than mere gas...

This is the look he gave us on Thanksgiving when we told him
all the food he'll be able to enjoy next year.

A boy and his dog...and his frog.

This will forever be one of my favorite pictures of Tommy.

I'm pretty sure this is a reflux cry.

#MotherBoy

My boys on Christmas morning.

Photo by Hailey Duncan

On his blessing day. #smolder
Hailey Duncan Photo

Thomas + Gunner + Harrison
Hailey Duncan Photo

These SuperBabies are happiest with their WubbaNubs nearby.
Hailey Duncan Photo

He goes through all the emotions in quick succession;
ten seconds after taking this picture, he was smiling bigly.

This is Tommy's preferred method of tummy time.

He does the cutest things with his hands when he sleeps...

Besides the pout, Tommy has also mastered a curmudgeonly scowl.
It makes giggle and swoon all at once.

Did you see those three babies a few photos up? Those are his cousins. Gunner came 15 days after Tommy, and Harrison came 18 days after that. Can you just imagine the mischief they're going to cause when they're older? I can't wait!

Anyway, Tommy is very nearly 3 months old, and although those first weeks were crazy (I'm looking at you, postpartum hormones + baby reflux + sleepless nights), we've started to kind of figure each other out. -That's not to say that Tommy doesn't throw a clink in things just to keep us on our toes. But we've learned that that's a part of parenthood as well.

Welcome to Earth, Major Tom.