Happy Father's Day Lloyd

I am up early as I just got finished laying John Huston back down after he woke up rolling over and with a wet diaper. I couldn't go back to sleep right away so I figured I would get on here and type what's on my mind. Today is Father's Day and it means a lot to me, just as much as Mother's Day did. It is Lloyd's first, my dad's first as a grandfather and would have been my Papa's first as a great-grandfather. A year ago yesterday was Papa's 78th birthday, and I gave him a frame with John Huston's ultrasound photo and a great-grandfather poem in it with a "your going to be a great-grandfather" card. I will never forget that big grin and look on his face when he saw it.

I know he is watching down on us today with that same smile on his face. For Father's Day last year I gave my dad a card in it with Buster's picture of him wearing a shirt saying "I'm going to be a big brother" and that is how we broke the news to my family about me being pregnant (at 9 weeks). Lloyd got a frame that said "Your going to be a Daddy" engraved on it with words of "fishing pal," "tractor rider," "hero," "father," etc. engraved on the side and a picture of JH's latest ultrasound in it.

I am so lucky to have Lloyd as my husband and John Huston's daddy. He was so wonderful to us at the hospital after JH was born with changing diapers, feeding him his bottle while I pumped, and washing my nursing supplies every time. I was so sore and sick after the c-section and wanted him to be in the room with us the whole time, that he just took over taking care of JH so that could happen. He continued with helping me after we came home from the hospital by letting me get rest and alone time by taking care of him after he got home from work until bedtime. Then we would split up feeding times at night on the weekends. Even though things have changed after I went back to work, Lloyd is still the best daddy I could ever hope for our family. I knew while we were dating that he would be a great daddy and that was one of the reasons I married him. I just wanted to share a few thoughts I had while they were on my mind and now I am going to head back to a warm bed with the best husband and daddy ever.

I'm Movin' On Up!

Well yesterday I got a call from the hospital asking if I wanted to go to dayshift. I had put in a request to go to the 3pm-11pm shift when I was on maternity leave to help with babysitting issues and only needing someone 3 hrs a day when I worked. Lloyd really wanted me to go to 3-11 so I would be home with John Huston at night and help him not getting up so early before he has to go to work at 6am. It was going to take a little longer to go to 3-11, so Lloyd and I talked about it, and decided that I better take it now because there is no way of knowing when it will come around again, went over budget stuff (yes, a big pay cut with no shift diff), and discussed it with our babysitter, so I decided to go with it. Plus it will be better having me home at night. There are others that have waited 10 years before they were able to get day shift since we have a low turnover rate and it's based on seniority. I was lucky to have been offered it after 5 years. It's a busier shift with scheduled procedures, more visitors, doctor rounds/orders, and I will have to get up early, but I think it will be well worth it. My sweet little boy needs his mom home at night and I think I will feel like I will have more of a life the week I work. There is actually time to still do things. The Lord knew I needed it now more so than before. I start next Wednesday and still will be doing 7 on, 7 off with 2 12 hr shifts. I am going to be able to be home with John Huston at night and sleep when he sleeps. He hasn't been waking up to eat until 6-6:30 am lately and that is after our babysitter gets here. I will be getting home around 4 pm, the same time Lloyd gets home, and I will feel so much better having a normal schedule. I am going to miss working with my friends at night as we got really close and we have had some crazy times together. My babysitter will keep him the same as she was when I was working nights, just a day sooner so that worked out good.
By the way, we found the best babysitter! She comes to our house by the time Lloyd leaves for work and then keeps him all day until Lloyd gets home (while I slept working nights). She is so wonderful with JH by getting him to take long naps, takes his whole bottle, plays with him and he is a happy baby when we get home. I knew we would find the right one eventually! God has been so good to us and has answered our prayers! So please keep your fingers crossed that everything continues to work out and we adjust well to my new schedule.

Fireman for the Day

Our big tree in the front yard has been showing signs like it is dying so Lloyd decided to cut a few dead branches off of it to see if it will continue to live. In order to get to those branches, he had the firetruck from the Greensboro Fire Dept come to our house on Sunday to help assist. We didn't get quite the neighborly attention that we thought would happen (the Eicher house is on fire!) but a few golf carts with our neighbors rode by and watched for a few minutes.

John Huston was able to get a few pictures in the firetruck with him decked out in his fireman attire of course.

driving the firetruck

I wanted to do it with him younger in his other fireman outfits but now he is trying to sit up and it was a great time. This outfit had a "36" on it and that fit perfectly with Hale County's number.

John Huston the Fireman

First Bites of Cereal

John Huston ate cereal for the first time with a spoon last night. We put him in his bumbo seat and his John Deere bib on and he was ready. He loved it and would get mad because he wasn't getting it fast enough. He did make a mess though (of course!) and some leaked out while he was trying to get the hang out of swallowing it.

John Huston's 4 Month Stats

Me and Daddy being lazy

John Huston had his 4 month appointment yesterday. He is 14 lbs 15 oz and 25 inches long. Head circumference 15 inches. They said he was right on track and was supposed to be double his birthweight by 4 months (7 lbs 7 oz). I knew my little man was a big one! I am finding out that more clothes that look like they would be too big for him is in fact just right on him. They just look so big hanging up in his closet. He met all of his developmental milestones too...reaching for objects, pushing up on his arms with head raised, cooing, bubbling, following objects, laugh/giggling, good eye contact and rolling over. He has only rolled over once, from tummy to back, when I found him one morning in his crib when he woke up. He laughed out loud for the first time for his Daddy 2 weeks ago. He loves to watch TV and we just put him in his Baby Einstein jumper. He loves to look in the mirror and make the little frog toy spin around. I will post a video of him playing in it next time. He loves to splash in his bathtub and makes a huge mess on the bathroom counter, that we had to move it to the big bathtub.

So there's this boy...he kind of stole my heart. He knows me as his Mom.

I had a great first Mother's day. Actually, I consider it my second Mother's Day because one year ago on Mother's Day is when I found out I was pregnant with John Huston. We didn't tell anyone because we wanted to make sure everything checked out great with the doctor and after I was a couple months along. But I was all smiles that day inside and out.

I felt so different today. I had gotten 'Happy Mother's Day' cards before from our cats and dogs but when I woke up I had my first real card. Lloyd gave me two sweet cards from him and John Huston. I also got a beautiful bouquet of flowers from them yesterday and my 'soon-to-be mom' best friend Stefanie. I get to treat myself to a much needed massage too with some Mother's Day money.

We had a great family day and spend the afternoon at my parents house. The weather held out great and we only had a few sprinkles and then the sun stayed out the rest of the day for us to have some pool fun. John Huston got used to the water and stayed in the pool for a short bit and floated in his frog float. He had on his little swimmers but still doesn't like a wet diaper! I will post pictures later. The Broussards joined us also and we had fun eating hotdogs and hamburgers that Pop grilled by the pool. Then we showed off our tricks off of the diving board. I think Lloyd and Justin had the most fun. Nanny enjoyed watching everyone play and took her an afternoon nap under the umbrella.

Here are a few things that I have learned from being a mom. Being a mom is a full-time job. I never realized how hard it actually was, and I appreciate my mom even more since being in her shoes, even though I still think she is crazy at times. I have learned to multi-task and get really fast at cleaning and doing things while he takes a nap. Even though I have always been organized and a planner, I have had to expand it even more and learn to do things around his feeding times and how to pack when we go somewhere. I have had to relearn a lot of nursery rhymes, especially since he loves to be sang to. I have learned how to live being so exhausted and sleep deprived and work a 12 hr shift on top of that. It seems like he decides not to sleep through the night and wake up an extra two times when we have to go somewhere the next day and when I really needed that good nights sleep. Also, I realized that sleeping 6 hours of uninterrupted during the day (when I work nights) is the same as sleeping 6 hours of interrupted during the night. But all of this is worth it when I get up with him first thing in the morning and see that toothless grin and those beautiful blue eyes looking up at me. I'm so lucky to finally be a mom!

3 Month Pictures

Easter outfit and basket (bunnies from Great-Grandmother Nanny & Daddy)

silver rattle given by Nanny on Easter