Birth Month

So, I come over to read my own blog periodically.  And every time I do, I look at the little Lily Pie train at the top.  Today Jackson is 11 months and 2 weeks old.  One year ago today, it officially became Birth Month.  I honestly cannot believe the time has gone by so fast.  This week was my 36 week check, when I started having Braxton Hicks Contractions, and continued to have them on and off (mostly on) until 38 weeks and 5 days, May 17, when Jackson was born!  I still remember the bumpy truck ride on Sunday, the long walk on Monday, and standing outside Monday night, facing the full moon, lifting up my shirt, and saying, "Come on Baby!"  Sure enough, I woke up at 3:30 am and couldn't get comfortable.  That's when it all began.

But enough with the nostalgia - I'll just make myself all teary. I'll save that post for May 17 of THIS year, when my little Baby Boy becomes a ONE year old.  Not a day goes by that I don't think about how he has changed my life forever.  And to think, not too long ago, I was unsure I even wanted to have kids.  Best decision we've ever made - I fall more and more in love with that Lil Man every day.

And now this strong, independent woman has officially turned to Mommy Mush..... :)

The Everyday Mamarazzi

Wow, talk about WAY behind!!  In my last post, Jackson was still a tiny tot!  Well, he's not so tiny anymore!  He's 10 months old, and is quite the talker!  He babbles constantly, mostly dadada, but he can also say mamamama, nanana, papapa, and the newest - gagaga.  He is 28in long and weighs 19lb.  He has no urge to move as far as crawling or scooting, but he does manage to get around somehow.  We put him down on his blanket, and a few minutes later he'll be off the blanket, but we really don't have a clue how he does it!  He rocks forward onto his hands, and then sits back and kicks his feet.  I don't know if he somehow moves himself during this process, but it's the only way I can think of that he is moving.

Last fall I was trained to place PICC lines, and during that process I was introduced to a photographer. I was talking with the nurse that was training me about wanting to take a photography class.  She said that Tin Star Photography here in Waxahachie was planning a "Mamarazzi" class.  I checked up on the website and emailed the owner of the studio.  When I mentioned this to my sister, she got excited and said, "I wanna do that too!"  Needless to say, we both got enrolled.  The class was called "The Everyday Mamarazzi."  The focus was to learn to use our cameras to take really great everyday pictures of our kids and family.  The class was small - only 10 moms.  We had 3 seminar classes, one in January, February, and March.  For the weeks between, we had a private group on Facebook, and we had a weekly assignment with a corresponding photo album.  We posted our pictures, gave each other feedback, and were able to come together as a group of women, all in various stages of parenthood.  It was really awesome!  I learned a lot about the basics of using that fancy camera Marc got me for my birthday, made some new friends, and learned to take some really great pictures of Jackson.  I'm still learning, but I feel like I've come leaps and bounds from the beginning.  Dana was really great at making us feel comfortable, and empowering us to be creative in our pictures.  She is very approachable, very real, and she has touched my life in a way she will never realize.  She gave me the confidence to think about what I'm trying to capture in a picture and the skill to know I can do it!  I'm so proud of myself, I've decided to share some of my pictures with you.
Here is my before picture - and might I add, I've NEVER used my flash since!:

The first week was about apeture, just some basic settings on the camera:

Then we used the shutter/time setting to stop an action:

We learned about taking pictures in low light using higher ISO (remember, no flash!):

Then, we started to get into some of the fun stuff, like Bokeh - that kind of "dreamy" feeling.

We got a little more creative and learned some more rules of general photography, and that's where I learned about taking these pictures:

I can't give away everything - then you wouldn't be interested in taking the class!  By the final day, I could take pictures like this:

Needless to say, it's been a lot of fun, and I'm sad that it's over.  Here's to many more years of being a MAMARAZZI!!

3 Months

Well, I lost Jackson's 3 month post a while ago, and unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to redo it.  And then time just decided to FLY by!  Everyone always says "they grow up so quickly" and "cherish every moment when they're little, because you'll turn around and they're graduating."  Well, turns out they're right.  I blinked and I have a 6 month old!!  I'm really trying to cherish all of the little moments and the time I have to just sit with Jackson on my lap, because I know soon he'll be on the move, and won't want to sit in Mommy's lap anymore.

So in order to catch up, I'm going to do a series of picture posts.  This is Month 3 - we went to visit Baby Connor, my cousin's little boy that was born 4 weeks after Jackson.  Remember that when you see the pictures and notice that Connor and Jackson are the same size!  Connor is a BIG Boy! :)

Blogger is being weird, so I'm going to go ahead and post this now...To be continued....

Sad Day

Tomorrow will be One Year since the most unimaginable tragedy changed a dear friend's life forever.  Read what I wrote about it here.  Today her husband posted a picture on Facebook, and that is what is causing me to stop in the middle of my work day and write a blog post.  He posted a picture, stating that one year ago today was his last Heavy Squat work out with his son.  The picture is of him (Squatting, of course), with Lil Leo in his exersaucer next to him.  They are both going about their day like any other, and knowing now what happened the very next day makes me study the picture more. Lil Leo is looking happy as a clam, just playing while his Daddy is lifting weights, and I can't imagine what God must have been thinking in that moment, knowing that He would call this little boy to a higher need the next day, with no warning to his parents.

Since then they have given birth to a beautiful baby Girl, and I know that her big brother is helping take care of her.  My friends continue to be one of the most loving, wholesome, faithful families I know, and I still don't understand why they have to endure such heartache, even now. 

Something no one knew then was I had just found out I was pregnant about a week before I got the phone call that this had happened.  That was part of the reason why I didn't attend his memorial.  I couldn't handle it.  I would have been an absolute wreck.  And now that I have a precious gift of my own, my heart aches even more this year.  We have taken so many pictures with Jackson, and carried on our days just the same as the one before - just like Leo doing Heavy Squats with his son.  I can't even begin to imagine if all of a sudden my baby boy was gone tomorrow.  I shed tears as I look at that picture, and as I write this, for one of the happiest boys who touched so many lives.  I will definitely hug on my Boy a little tighter tonight.

So once again, if you are a faithful person, please join me in praying for this family.  This week will be hard - his passing tomorrow, and what would have been his 2nd birthday on the 19th.  I still cannot begin to express the sorrow I feel for them, but also the awe I have in their faith and their ability to place one foot in front of the other to get to this point.  God bless the Seitz and Oberpriller families.

Well, Crap!

So, I've been working on Jackson's 3 month post for a little while, but I'll admit it's probably been 2 weeks since I've been on blogger to look at it.  So, I log in this morning to finish it - so I can then start his 4 month post :)  But what do I find?  The draft of his 3 month post is GONE!  I don't know if it was the Blogger upgrade or what happened, but I have officially lost it.  Talk about frustrated - it was a long post with lots of pictures!  Oh well, I suppose I'll start it over....

2 Months - First Shots!

I know I'm a little behind, but I figured I'd make Jackson's 2 month post. I covered Denton and Laura's wedding already, and then we spent the rest of 4th of July weekend with our friends!  It was most of their first times to meet Jackson.  It was also really great to see our buds again. 

We've also just had a lot of fun hanging out at home!  Marc has fun making Jackson look like Mother Theresa in his towel after bathtime, and he also started smiling at 2 months.  I got a great shot of Jackson smiling at Marc:

Nana and Paw Paw also came to visit again - it was the first time they had seen Jackson since the week after he was born.  They had a good time playing, and taking in how much he has changed!

I also got a fancy new DSLR camera for my birthday from Marc, so I've had fun learning how to use it.  Marc's sister told me a photographer friend of hers had taken some pictures of a baby's feet with Mom and Dad's rings on the toes.  I played around for a while and finally got a good one - I'm very proud of myself!

We've been having a lot of fun, and this little guy makes us so happy every day.  His inability to focus also makes us laugh a lot!!

As you can tell, the Newborn clothes are getting a bit small!  We also went up to a size 1 diaper just after his 2 month birthday.  Here are his 2 month chair pictures:

And 2 months also means a checkup, with his first shots!  Everything went well at the doctor's office, and our chunky monkey is definitely growing!  He was 23 inches long, and weighed in a 11lb 3oz.  He did really well with his shots - he screamed as the needle went in and cried while she was giving them, but as soon as I picked him up he stopped crying, and then fell asleep in the car seat on the walk out to the car.  He stayed very sleepy the rest of the day - I had to wake him up to feed him!  And Mommy and Daddy did well with the shots too - the only tears shed were Jackson's :)  Here he is with his war wounds bandaged up:

That's all for now - I'll post the next month soon!

Denton and Laura

The weekend of July 2 we got together with Marc's family in Austin to celebrate the Marriage of Marc's cousin Denton and Laura.  We got the chance to get to know Laura better over Thanksgiving last year, and I got to know Denton better.  They are a great couple that are a lot like us - we can't wait to spend more time with them!

Needless to say, this was our first trip away with the Little Man!  I had to make a huge list of what to pack so that we wouldn't forget anything, LOL.  And then, of course, Jackson decided to have a fussy day on Friday, and Marc had a bad day at work, so the beginning of the drive was not too fun.  There was also lovely holiday weekend traffic, so it took us just over an hour and a half to get to Waco, a drive that usually takes right at an hour.  I pulled into a Whataburger, Marc flew out of the car to get us some food, and I sat there in the back of the parking lot and nursed Jackson.  Once we all had some food on our bellies, traffic had lightened up a bit and Jackson fell asleep.  The rest of the drive was just fine!  We got in late Friday night, so we just said hello to Marc's mom and turned in.  The next day we just got to hang out with Marc's Mom, his Sister, and our nephew most of the day (our neice was a flower girl, so she was off getting her hair done and doing girly things before the wedding).  Marc's mom brought us a handmade gift for Jackson:

And, proud Noni got to feed him a bottle:

It nice to just have some down time to spend with the family.

Then, we headed to the wedding.  Jackson got to get dressed up for the occasion:

And, I'll tell ya, this is how you prepare for an outdoor wedding in July in Texas:

Ha Ha!  Marc found those cute little shades at Academy, along with some personal mister fans that we took to keep Jackson cool throughout the night.  Speaking of Jackson, he did absolutely wonderful!  He slept all evening, with the exception of waking up to eat, and that was about it! He sleeps well when he's warm (which is why I can't swaddle him during the day), so I guess 90 degree heat keeps him cozy!

So this post is supposed to be about the wedding, so let's get to it!  The wedding was beautiful, Laura wore an antique gown with a lace overlay, and just when she got to the end of the aisle, a little gust of wind came off the lake and blew up her veil - it was absolutely breathtaking.  Denton had a little quiver to his lip as Laura came down the aisle, and Laura cried during her vows.  Then, we headed in for the reception.  In addition to beer and wine, there was a specialty drink made for the couple.  Laura's was a blueberry martini - it was yummy, but I only drank about half of mine, since I am a cheap drunk these days and a Blue Moon was calling my name. :)  Denton's drink was an Old Fashioned - a whiskey drink with grenadine.  

Check out this gown!

And we were all excited to get dressed up and have some fun!  Here's Marc's sister and her kids - we missed her husband, but the life of an Oil Man is not his own.

The first two generations of the family - Marc's Mom, his Grandmother, and his Uncle (Father of the Groom):

Mamie and all of her Great Grandchildren:

And hey, Marc and I clean up pretty nice too!

I also got a chance to play with my new DSLR camera, and took some pictures of the first thing that had Laura's new name on it - her placecard at dinner!

After dinner, we headed outside for dancing.  Here are some pictures of the Newlyweds at their first dance, with Mamie watching:

Overall, we had a great time, and it was a beautiful wedding set on the lake in Austin!  Thank you, Denton and Laura, for letting us share in this celebration with you - here's to many years of happiness!!