The Five Non-Negotiables

After a week of stuffy noses around here, I think everyone has recuperated. The antibiotics did the trick for Adam; within about 24 hours of taking his first dose, he was breathing better and acting way more like himself.

I am still amazed at how God worked it out that David would be off this week. I know that babies get sick, and as parents, you do what you have to do to take care of them. But I have barely built up one sick day since being back to work, so I have been praying that we could wait until I had enough time built up before he was sick enough that he couldn't go to daycare. Way back in the fall, before Adam was born, we planned that David would have this week off, which would be right before I would go back to work (if Adam had been born somewhere around his due date in January). We thought we could spend a week home together or take a trip together while I was still off work (if we were feeling brave and adventurous). As it turned out, I was back to work but David was able to be home to wait on Adam hand and foot while he was sick. I am so thankful for that; if I couldn't be there, I am so glad Adam was with David.

Now, I have been wanting to post our non-negotiables for some time now. We have just finished the 5th week of Revolutionary Parenting, a class we are attending at church through our Sunday school class. We have been talking about life transformation, and thinking ahead to what we want our children to look like character-wise when they leave our home. Seeing these end points, we decided on our 5 non-negotiable qualities that we want our children to possess. Sure, there are other things, too, but we have learned that if you choose a few, you are more likely to focus daily on instilling them in your children.

We have been tweaking and developing these over the weeks. Ours are:

1. Love God - learn about God, believe in Him, accept grace and walk with Him throughout life

2. Be well mannered - be respectful to others, follow the Golden Rule, have integrity and selflessness in their relationships

3. Love of learning - Knowlege and wisdom create the best combination for education; education can take you far but learning should be a lifelong goal

4. Be wise with money - Understand the value of money and the importance of hard work, the blessing of genorosity, and to learn responsibility by being a steward of what God has given you

5. Strong sense of self - know that they are loved & adored, and therefore confident to be true to themselves & comfortable in their own skin

Under the Weather

Adam has his first cold right now. He started getting sick on Sunday afternoon and it seemed to progress really quickly! It seems to mainly be a head cold and cough, but it is so hard to hear him sound so rattly and have trouble breathing due to all the head congestion. It greatly affects sleeping and eating, which is what babies do best! David happens to be on vacation this week, so he is taking care of him, but he doesn't feel that great himself. We took Adam to the doctor's office yesterday morning and they told us what we expected - we were already doing all we could do. Last night he had a fever, though, so we'll call them again today. So say a little prayer for my boys- that Adam's head clears up and the infection gets better and that David gets better too.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

First Percentile, Here We Come!!

We made the growth charts today! Adam had his appointment today for his RSV shot, and the doctor decided to go ahead and make it his four month checkup as well. So we were back to four shots and 2 heel sticks again. The good news was that his hemoglobin had improved! He weighed 11 lbs, 2 ounches, which was in the 1st percentile on the "regular" baby growth chart! Yea! He was 23 1/2 inches long, which was the 8th percentile, and his head circumference was in the 3rd percentile! I just cannot believe how long he has gotten - seven inches is a lot to grow. Its like he has grown the whole length of his leg since he was born!

Happy 4 Month Birthday Adam!

Adam

Mommy and Daddy are so happy to have you. We can't believe you are already 4 months old, it seems like just yesterday you were still in the hospital. You are growing up so fast. You're the most important thing in our lives and we love you like nothing else.

Love

Mommy and Daddy

Family Matters

This weekend turned out to be a busy one at our house! I feel like I have hardly been able to sit down to relax, even though I had an extended weekend. David's mom kept Adam last week on Thursday, and when I got home we took him for a walk at the park. Friday turned out to be a day that both David and I were off, so we ran some errands and got some things done for the weekend that I would normally do on Saturday.

My mom and I took Adam on his first long trip on Saturday, back to my hometown. Adam is fortunate to have four living great-grandparents and he had met all but one so we went to introduce Adam to Papaw Earl. Adam did great in the car on our way there, but had kind of a rough trip back (more on that later). We really enjoyed our day - even though we had gotten together as a family since then, I realized it had been since June of 2007 since I had been there! It was a great visit and we had such a nice day, and Adam felt so comfortable that he easily was fast asleep on Papaw's belly.

By the time we were driving back I think Adam was worn out, had gotten warm earlier from the 73 degree weather (the warmest day since Adam was born), and was ready to be held again rather than sit in the car seat, so he cried for a solid hour despite my mom's best efforts to soothe him. There wasn't a safe spot to even pull over so we just had to keep going. Eventually he wore himself out! Later, David and I found that he had little red bumps all over his chest and some on his back, so this definitely could have been contributing. I am not sure if they were from the heat earlier in the day when he was overdressed, or from the new outfit he wore that I had not yet washed prior to him wearing it. Either way, we gave him a bath and just watched him last night and it was gone by the morning! Poor little guy!

Today we had our second week of our parenting class, and I hope to get to share some of what we learned later because it was really good.

Here is a picture of Adam and my cousin's little boy, Shawn, who is almost four. He LOVED holding Adam. He asked for him about ten times, and anytime Adam was looking around while being held by someone else, Shawn said in his quiet little voice "he's looking for me". They were too cute.

Hurry up, Spring!

I just had to take a minute to share this picture that my mom and I were able to get today! He's been smiling when you talk to him but most of the time he becomes too distracted by the sight of the camera to keep it going. Today we caught a little one! His smiles will warm your heart, I'm telling you! Currently he is soundly sleeping on the couch beside me and I just knew that as soon as I started to write he would wake up. So I'm typing quickly!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying about my return to work. Adam and I have both adjusted well! It is so fun to be driving on my way to pick him up; I always cannot wait to get my hands on him and kiss his little face!

We have had such a nice weekend at home as a family. We have had some quality time together and have also gotten some things accomplished, too. We went to Sunday School this morning, where we are starting a 6-week class called "Revolutionary Parenting". What wonderful timing! Today was mainly the introduction, but I think it is going to be so good, and our room was packed out!

We are READY for some spring weather! I have included a picture of Adam on our second walk outside. We just have not had many nice weather days where the wind wouldn't blow you over, but we have taken advantage of those we have, though the way he's bundled, you'd never know. I think this day was a little windier than I first thought. After needing to keep Adam inside for so long, I am anxious to be able to do more things outside. Warm weather - hurry up!