Celebration

So last night, I had bible study at my girlfriend's house and I hurried out afterwards to get the baby home, bathed, fed and in bed. His last feeding is typically at 9, but I adjust on Mondays to make it around 9:30 so that I can take him to bible study with me. Chad has never done bed time with this little booger and really just doesn't know much about his routine so I can't leave him yet- and just know that this is not a complaint-- Chad knew the other two inside and out and even kept Max at home one day a week starting at his 6 wk mark- it's just that this baby is so sweet that I just love every single feeding, and so appreciate being home with him and not going back to work that I don't want him to do bottle- so really it's selfish :) Also, Chad isn't up to speed on the Moms on Call methods that I've used with this little guy- honestly, he doesn't EVER read those kind of parenting books or put much thought into it- I just tell him what I've read and what I've decided and ask for input when needed and he's A-ok with that... I think this is called being a man :)

Anyway, so back to last night- we did the routine a little later than normal, and then as I was swaddling him around 10pm and whispering my normal "I love you, baby-- see you soon" I decided to add "actually, I'll see you in the morning, ok?" And I did a soft little laugh and laid him in his bed. He always snuggles in for about 3 minutes and this fusses until I come back and give him his paci again, and then he's out. He never has to be picked up again or rocked or any of that (see, easiest baby ever!) and that's exactly what happened last night. Afterwards, I finished some laundry, did my bedtime routine, and we crawled into our own bed around 11-- honestly, that's really late for me- I go to bed at 10p usually and Chad goes to bed at the same time about 3-4 nights a week... mainly if the Spurs aren't playing (Thank you Jesus that basketball is over!) or some other tv program doesn't have a hold on him.

Next thing I know, I wake up and it's around 5:30am and there is no sounds from the baby. I search my brain trying to remember if I fed him and just forgot?? But "the girls" let me know that I have definitely not fed him in a very long time. (TMI?!?!) So I stare at the monitor and see this:

So I pray and ask God to please make him move or make a noise so I know he's ok AND He does! So I set the monitor down, and I praise God and go back to sleep for another hour... still nothing from the baby! At this point, "the girls" are ready to explode so I start making little noises so Sam will wake up and finally he does around 6:40. 6:40 people! He's 7 weeks old! This is a modern day miracle because I've NEVER had a baby sleep through the night before 9 months and that takes many nights of going in the room repetitively to shush without feeding to "teach" them that they can indeed go 8 hours without me-- I refer to this a Bowman Baby Bootcamp. Hate it. And apparently I'm not going to have to do it this go around. Oh what an angel baby!

So after I fed the baby, I went and made coffee and did my bible study alone. Alone! Did you read that? ALONE! Whhaaaa???? It seriously was a gift from God- I haven't slept through the night since I got pregnant with Sam and I feel like a new woman!

In other news, after all that, I went back to my room and Chad was still in bed sending texts and emails for the day. Jack came in batting a balloon around and saying the phrase Chad seriously hears 10000 times a day "Watch, Daddy, watch!" and of course we were watching and giggling at how cute he was and how hard he was working when all of a sudden Jack screams "gum!" and bends down and picks up something from the carpet and eats it. In our house, gum is mentos, and I was sure that there weren't any mentos in our room- I generally pass those out in the car to quiet chaos or keep people awake- and so I jumped up to see what Jack had put in his mouth. It was a bug. Jack ate a bug this morning. So it's not all sunshine and lollipops around here- I don't want you to get the wrong message. Our babies may sleep through the night but our toddlers also eat bugs.

And in case you forgot, today is my day :) Thank you baby Sam, and thank you Jesus!

The Day I Ran Out of Diapers...

Just FYI, my mom came and got Jack yesterday for an over-nighter because he's so high maintence and needy right now that I can't even think straight. Basically I have a 1 month old who requires skin to skin for obvious reasons and then a 2 year old who also requires it, I think because the baby does, and he doesn't appreciate sharing. It gets ugly. So anyway, my mother, Lord bless her, made 24 hours of nothingness so she could do nothing but hold Jack and sing and read books. And do you know what happened? He went to bed like an angel at 8:15p and got up at 10am. That has happened zero times in the history of ever for any child I have ever given birth to. Really Jack?

But this post isn't about that. It's about the day that I, Lauren Marie Noblitt Bowman, ran out of diapers. Just that statement alone is monumental in itself because I'm known for being prepared- like over the top, embarrassingly so. I pack weeks before a trip, I plan months before a party, and if there's a chance of a change in weather, you can bet I'm prepared. This is also the reason that I always seem to be carrying a lot!

Anyway. So Tuesday, Chad left at the crack of dawn, reminding me that he would be home in time to fall into bed himself, and in my "I get up to feed a baby so mornings are a little rougher these days" fog, I nodded, rolled over, and continued snoozing. For about 9 more minutes. At which time Max showed up "hungry" and began the "will you get me's". But that's neither here not there.

So Tuesday, no husband, no problem. I'm a praying woman, so I beseech the Lord for a days worth of extras in all the areas I'm running dry, and before I know it, we've been to the Library, the park, Sonic for cheeseburgers and slushies, and all the babes are down for a nap. I take a hint and crawl in my own bed... Until the J-man who always naps for at least 2.5 hours blesses me with his shouts 1.5 hours early. I walk into his room and get slammed with a stench- hence the early waking- and so he got fresh pants at which time I noticed that the diapers were really low. But I have his little diaper bag for backup and the shared diaper bag for back up backup (prepared, remember?) so I decided to play with fire and make it a "to-do" for tomorrow because I was NOT loading up the 4 boys yet again. I was all out in that department. 

And then something bad happened... Jack's new molars did something to his insides and the child went through 5 diapers in 30 minutes. And somehow I managed to put him in the last one in our whole house without knowing it, while barely making it to dinner time. At this point all the people are whining and needy but luckily I can see the light at the end of the tunnel... It's bath and bed time, folks! I start to gather pj's and wait, there's no diaper. Not. even. one. Any. Where. 

I panic.

My mind races.

I panic some more.

It's 7:36 and I'm going to load up 4 boys and go to the grocery store. Fail. Like monumental. I send Gabe to the car with Max and Jack and I strap the baby in his seat. And I make a rash decision to strip my list off the side of the fridge, finish out the menu for the rest of the week, and get any groceries we might need for the remainder of the week, because if I have to go on Tuesday night, after bed time, with 4 boys, I better NOT have to go again for at least 5 days, come hell or high-water. The boys are in the car sweating, literally, as I dash around like a nut and finally plop in the driver's seat and blast the AC and some kid songs CD all the way to Kroger.

After getting Max and Jack into the car cart, the baby's seat into the basket, and instructing Gabe that he has to walk in front or behind because we are just too wide for him to walk beside me, we're off, in search of all the things on my list in 20 minutes or less, help me Jesus! (Side note: Gabe decides to walk in front and gets Max to honk the car horn every time I stop the cart to notify him to stop. I seriously appreciate the cleverness and teamwork in this plan!)

I grab the diapers first, in case we hve to bail at any point, and before I know it, my whole list is crossed off and all 4 Bowman boys have behaved beautifully. So naturally this calls for ice cream. For me. Ice cream of my choosing of course, which is how Heath Klondike Bars ended up in the cart, and like all moms have the ability of doing, this happened without any boy noticing... well baby Sam may have noticed but he's sworn to secrecy. Everyone starts to get cranky in the check out, while every employee convenes to gush over the 4 blonde hair blue eyed boys and gives me the "are you going to try for a girl?" and "oh you poor thing" a million times and I just bite my tongue for fear of screaming "get me outta here, can't you see I'm sweating and they're screeching?" So here is where I make my second terrible decision of the day- you'd think the waiting til tomorrow for diapers would've been enough, but no, I like to torture myself, so I waved the ice cream in front of them and promised they could have one at home, if they ceased all noise until they saw our driveway.

And tht is exactly what they did, which is why I found myself stripping down ice cream covered, bug spray covered, sweat covered boys 20 minutes later... Shoulda kept the ice cream all to myself, dumbo! But alas, after everyone showered and dressed and we met in Jack's room for one big family prayer because I didn't have the energy to pray and sing with each boy, I throw them all into the appropriate beds. DONE!

I collapsed onto the couch- my back hurt, I was still kicking myself of the stupidity, my teeth are still clenched, and yet I had made it. Barely. That's when I clicked over to Facebook, Klondike bar in hand, to see what comments, if any, I had gotten since posting my debacle for the world to see... AND I DIED. They were sweet, funny, resourceful, helpful, sympathizing, and could not have been more perfect if any way shape or form. And people knew this required ice cream! Hallelujah!

And so I fell into my own bed, at 9:47, with a grin on my face, because I knew I was the most blessed lady on this planet. 

Happy 1 Month Baby Sam

I can't believe our sweet baby Sam is already a month old! He's been a precious angel since day 1. I keep waiting for vampire baby, up all night baby, scream through dinner baby, but nope, just perfect baby! If he gets "fussy" it's this level of fussy that can barely even qualify and it's easily fixed with a few minutes in mommy's arms. He is rarely needed and he's a great sleeper. And when it's awake time, those baby blues are so precious that I just want to kiss his cheeks incessantly! His skin is oh so soft and we're working hard to fatten the lil man up! He was born at 7lbs 1oz, and dropped to 6 lbs 15oz. At his 2 week check up, he was 8lbs 8oz and that's when they just want you back to your birth weight! And then at 3 weeks, when we were at the ENT for the tongue/ lip tie clipping, he was already 9lbs 2 oz!! And one week later, I can't even imagine, because he looks so much fuller... just like mama ordered :)

Sam eats aroudn 7am, 9am, 12p, 3p, 6p, and 9p, and then we usually don't hear from him until around 3am- perfection. After his 7am feeding, he wants to go straight back to sleep, but after the others, he'll stay up and look around and smile at us and I just eat him up. Jack and Max are especially smitten with him, and comes around for all the awake times, supplying lots of kisses and pointing out things about him. And although Gabe isn't usually drooling all over him during the day, he loves showing him off when we're out and about and is quick to spout off all his stats-- he knows his exact age, how big he is, and anything anyone wants to ask. This baby is ADORED... and that's putting it lightly!

After the other boys go to bed, Sam usually gets about 30 minutes on the floor with Daddy- they discuss their day and solve the world's problems while I run around and pick up and hop in the shower. His hair is still a hit to all those we meet- and after every bath, it stands straight out like a new fluffy puppy. He doesn't mind his baths, he'll do a nice stint in the swing, usually around dinner prep, he's a great car rider, loves his momsoncall.com swaddle and schedule, and prefers to be on his tummy... which is hard for his rule follower of a mom!

And in his first month of life, Sam has already been to the pool a couple times... he slept right through it! He's taken several trips to the park... he slept right through that too. And he even had his first overnight across town with mommy. We had the hotel room to ourselves, and a weekend with the girls to hear Beth Moore and "get a word"-- it was awesome- and he slept right through that too!

This is how much stuff it takes for me and Sam to go across town for one night....

Isn't he cute sleeping in a hotel... and not waking up extra because he's in a weird place... good baby!

Plus, I got a whole weekend with just holding him and cuddling him- I enjoyed having one baby for 24 hours although we missed the others by the time we got back home! And then, Sam also went to his first Braves game this weekend, when they squeaked out another win in the 10th inning- he's a fan!

Check out the play by play...

Sam's Birthday:

1 Week Old:

2 Weeks Old:

3 Weeks Old:

4 Weeks Old:

1 Month Old:

Baby Sam, you're the perfect addition to our family! We love you more than words allow and are so thankful that God saw it fit to bless our family with you-- couldn't ask for anything more!

Sam's Munch n' Meet

When we first decided not to find out if baby Sam was a boy or girl, it obviously put a wrench in any sort of shower or baby party... so my sweet friend Danielle decided that once the baby arrived that we must have a "sip n' see" type party. Of course, if the baby was a girl, there would be a great need for all things pink, ruffles, and girly, and if the baby was a boy, there'd be a need for ummm... nothing... but he'd be precious and people would want to meet him!

So Danielle gathered my list and made a plan on the front end, and then as soon as Sam was born, she sprang into action. First she decided that the sip n' see was a tad bit more girly and tad bit more middle of the day rather than evening so she came up with a "munch n' meet" instead. She enlisted the help of several other wonderful friends (aka Sam's fan club) and we decided that it'd be best to do it at my house so I wouldn't have to pack up and worry about feedings and all that. It was also sort of a drop in- with lots of yummy food- and mostly just chatting and passing the little precious man around... only after slathering on plenty of hand sanitizer of course. 

The party was such a success- it was right in between 2 feedings, it was the perfect length, it was full of wonderful guests loving on my sweet baby, I got to have some adult interaction and feel human for a bit, and did I mention the food?? Yummmmmm!! Sam (me) also got lots of great gifts-- the practical stuff like tons of wipes, which only a seasoned mom truly knows the value of, and then new blankets and picture frames and decor for his nursery and clothes that are just his, not hand-me-downs from his brothers. By the end of the night, I was so overwhelmed with just how blessed I am with amazing friends and family. It was such a sweet time and I enjoyed it so much!

Bloglovin

Did you know google reader is disappearing soon? Yep, hate that! But I'm starting to transfer all the blogs I read over to bloglovin and let's just say I'm lovin it, alright :) Cheesy, I know, but it's so easy and I'm a fan, what can I say? ANYWAY... just using this post for verification. But I do think you should head over to blog lovin and set up your own and add my blog, ok? Ok!

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