Somebody Had a Party...

Yesterday we had Brigz's one year party. It was soooo much fun! It felt like a whirlwind, but we survived and had a blast! We had gorgeous weather, we got our yard finished enough for the party, and we had so many friends and family! Brigz is very spoiled loved and got a rediculous amount of presents! We even had a water fight! I can't believe this year has came and went and we have ALREADY had his party :( His real birthday is the 27th and we are going to have so much fun!

ALSO... last wednesday, I decided it was time to get tough and seriously sleep train. He has been getting up every hour and a half to nurse and I was living off of coffee. Even when cut him off nursing, he kept waking up. I knew I needed to get something done before he can get out of his crip. So Wednesday night he went to sleep and woke up about 2 hours later. So I went in, laid him down, patted his back, and left the room.... and almost fell apart. I went back in and did this every 3 min, then 5 min, and then 10 min until he fell asleep.... 1 HOUR LATER! Killer. I am not cut out for hearing my baby cry. But I did it and he did it. He put himself to sleep!!! It was a miracle! And he slept til the next morning! The next night, he woke up and I offered him a sippy, he didn't want it, and I kissed him and left the room. He cried 5 min and went to sleep. The next night, he cried 3 min. And the past two nights he has..... SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! AAAHHHHH!!! I am so excited, so well rested, and praying it continues! He is happier, I am happier, it is better for everyone! LOVE IT! 

12 month stats:

• he walks every where and is into everything
• he likes to climp up things
• he likes any toy that he can take apart and put back together, or take out and put back in
• he is still very little, weighing only about 19 lbs, but is very tall
• he loves to eat now, but only the food he likes :) loves fruit, raisins, crackers, cookies, avocados, yogurt, yogurt melts, baby cheetos, and graham crackers.
• he drinks whole milk, almond milk, and toddler formula. he looovvvees water. No babas; only sippies.
• he says go, mamma, dadda, dad, more, dog, bath (baf), quak, growls, ready... go, and more
• he loves "so big", clapping, high fives, his coyote whistle, dancing, and sticking his finger up his nose when ask where his nose is.
• he is a snuggle bug to the max

He is the greatest baby ever! We are so blessed to have him :) I can't wait to see what more he does as he grows. He amazes me every day!

Mamma

 Every time God throws big challenges at me, I have always been grateful enough to have people to help me through. I am very lucky that I have not had very many big challenges in my life. I have been very blessed with parents that always made things very easy. That is only because maybe they had hard things in their life that encouraged them to make family their number one priority.

One big challenge, was in college when my best friends and I decided to "break up". It was really, really, really hard for me. My mom had advice for me and helped me through it and how to not be angry. Then, we had the whole ordeal with our delivery of Brigz. Although going through it felt like going through the motions, the aftermath was harder to deal with emotionally. My heart goes out to everyone who has ever lost a baby. Almost losing one was the hardest thing I have ever been through. Thank goodness for an amazing hubby, also. My family helped me through that as well. And now with being a mom. I feel like every day is something new that I hope and pray that I am doing things "right" for Brigz. He is my whole world and my everything and all I want is for him to have an easy life like I did. However, there are always things and people that make you feel like maybe you aren't doing things "right". With a baby, I'm pretty sure that it's a little of shooting from the hip and hoping that that idea works for your baby.

It is one week tomorrow that I decided to quit breastfeeding Brigz. I totally underestimated the emotions that go along with it. I miss that time with him very much. I struggle with thinking maybe it was too early to cut him off. Then to top it off, he got constipated from the lack of breastmilk in his system (another reason why they say "cold turkey" is difficult with breastfeeding). I felt horrible because I made this decision so that we could maybe get more sleep, and it caused him to have a night full of pain :( You would think after 12 months, I would be okay with letting it go, but I REALLY miss that time.Of coarse, through our really crazy past week with other random, depressing things, my mom had great advice again. She told me this:

"The single, most important thing you can give your baby is simply love. The rest will fall into place from there."

So there ya go. And I know that I give our baby as much as humanly possible! I love this baby more than anything and I will be dang sure he grows up knowing how much his parents love him.

Thank you mamma for always being there and setting my head back on straight! Love you forever.

Weaning... dun dun dunnnnn

It has officially been four days since our little man had the boobie. I am dying. He hasn't even noticed. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I still have plenty of food to supply.... beleive me. But, I have noticed that if you cut things off with these babies before they realize they are attached, they don't seem to notice. I needed to nurse him for a year because of my cyst I had last year. They said it would be healthier for me to nurse for a year. Lately, he has been pulling up my shirt for me, and asking for it by saying "my mama mama".  He also has still been wanted to nurse all.night.long. lately and we have been up every 2 hours or so. So I thought it would be time. After talking to a friend on fourth of July, she gave me the idea to just go cold turkey. I didn't expect to do it just yet, but it worked out that this week just worked for it. Here is our new plan:

• When he wakes up, I don't pick him up out of the crib
• I rub his back and offer his binky (that will be going away soon as well)
• If he is having a hard time, I offer a sippy cup (bottles have been cut out as well) that are really diluted. 
• At nap time, I offer a sippy cup while rocking. 

So far, it has been a major success. Besides one night that he was constipated and woke up every houurrrr!!! But he has adjusted way better than I ever imagined. I am a bit more emotional about it all. I am really missing that time we had together.  Since he is almost a year old, my emotions are pretty high right now anyways. Plus, my boobs are going to fall off. They are not going down at all!! Everything says three days and you will start to notice you are drying up. NOPE! I am full as ever and uncomfortable! And that plays with my head making me think that it shouldn't be time to stop then :(

Frankenstein

Welp, it is official! Brigz started walking/running on July 1st! He has been holding our hand and walking for about 1.5 months now, and started taking wobbly steps between Corey and I for about a week. All of a sudden he took of the other day and continues to get and better. He thinks it is a game and cracks up and he walks everywhere now! Corey and I get so proud of him and hug him when he walks directly to us so now he expects hugs, claps, and kisses after a long haul! So cute!