A Very Merry Christmas!

Eric and I loaded up the car on Friday and headed down to Hattiesburg for our annual Christmas dinner with Jason, Nicole, & Gary - our very best friends from college. We spent the weekend in Laurel with Eric's family & Oma got to love on Nolan lots... when Grandma Trish wasn't holding him :) On Sunday, we headed to Hammond to see my family & Nolan met Uncle Bryan for the first time. He gave Nolan a very special Nolan Ryan bronzed basball card that he received when he was a child. We enjoyed Christmas Eve at my parent's house and Nolan experienced presents for the first time. His favorite gift was a learning puppy...he actually reached out both of his arms for it when he saw it...a First! He also received a few other nice gifts that I will be snapping pics of soon.

Overall, we had a very Merry Chistmas and Eric and I shared the most special gift of all...our son who we thank the Lord for everyday. Our lives have been so blessed this year and we are so thankful this season for our happy, healthy, and growing family.

Lots of new things for Nolan

On Sunday morning before church, Nolan rolled over for the first time from his back to his belly. We were so excited! He actually did it two times in a row. He was laying on our bed as we were getting ready for church and I glanced over and saw he was on his belly! I yelled for Eric to come see as I placed him on his back again. We watched proudly as he rolled over a second time for mama and daddy to see :)

Nolan also slept through the night on Monday. I put him down at 8pm and he slept until 4:30am. That was a really big deal. Letting him cry on Sunday was the worst thing to hear...and he cried for 2 hours straight before he fell back asleep. I had to put him in our bed to help soothe him after all that fussing and then fed him at 8:30am. I'm praying he will continue to sleep better at night, eliminating that 3am feeding.

Nolan also tried Sweet Peas for the fist time last night for dinner. He loved them! We think he liked peas better than the Sweet Potatoes!

I also moved Nolan up to the next pacifer size. You can see a pic of him getting it for the first time.

Rice Cereal & Sweet Potatoes!

Two weeks ago I began feeding Nolan rice cereal for the first time. He did not care for the cereal at all, so Eric and I decided to have a little taste to see why he kept turning his head away from it all the time. It was awful. Absolutely terrible. It tasted like cardboard, no joke. So, after about 8 tries, he finally ate it with a thicker consistency & with Mommy's milk only.

On Thursday I gave him his first vegetable - Sweet Potatoes. He could not eat it fast enough! As soon as I fed him one bite, he was crying for more. He ate the whole serving size and still cried for more. After a big belly ache, I quickly learned to only feed him half that amount until his little body adapts to real food.

He's still a pretty aggressive eater, but thank the Lord, I finally moved him to a 4 hour schedule. He's still waking up for a 3am feeding and still has yet to sleep though the night. Tonight will be the first night we are going to let him cry it out...no matter how hard it's going to be. His little body has grown accustomed to waking up at the same time every night and it has really exhausted me. I can't remember the last time I slept through the night...it's been a VERY LONG TIME :)

Weekend fun

We had a pretty busy weekend with Eric's mom in town and Christmas shopping. Trish bought Nolan an early present - an Exersaucer! He is fascinated with all of the lights, sounds, and objects on this stationary activity center. It was fun to watch him discover how things operate and how he can move himself around to the different objects on it. Eric's mom also bought us an early Christmas present - a new chair & ottoman for our living room. Eric picks it up tomorrow and I'm so excited! We also got a smoker and Eric smoked a chicken and Boston butt on Sunday. It was so delicious!

Nolan & Santa

I took Nolan to have his picture taken with Santa today at the Galleria with Lindsey & Parker. Nolan did so good and even flashed a smile for the camera. This was his first time to wear his Christmas outfit...and I'm so glad he can still fit into it. Nolan weighed in at 18.9 pounds Monday at his 4 month check-up. The doctor said I need to stop nursing him every 3 hours and move it up to every 4 hours. He's done really well so far this week on his new schedule. I introduced rice cereal on Monday...but he's not too fond of the taste. I'm not going to push it too much because he certainly does not need the extra calories!! He's such a big boy :)

Nolan's Dedication at Church of the Highlands

Nolan is 4 months old today and we dedicated his life to the Lord at our church this morning. To dedicate a child to the Lord is to make a vow to completely submit your child to the will of God and to raise him in the ways of the Lord. The Bible says that children are a heritage and a reward from the Lord (Psalm 127:3). God has graciously given us Nolan and the tremendous responsibility of "raising him up in the ways of the Lord"(Ephesians 6:4). He has given us the responsibility to provide Nolan with a strong foundation built upon Christ to grow up in His image.

The Bible gives us an example of dedicating a child to the Lord through the account of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:11, 26–28. Since Hannah could not conceive a child on her own, she wept before the Lord. As she wept, she made a vow saying, "O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life..."(1 Samuel 1:11).

God honored Hannah's request and gave her a son, Samuel. Hannah kept her vow and dedicated (which means "to set apart") Samuel to the Lord. That's what Eric and I did today with Nolan. It was such a special day for our family.