Tucker Weekly

Happy New Year's Eve! This is always a special time of year for us since we started dating at a New Year's party and got married one year later on New Year's Day! More of an anniversery post later...but I can't help but think of that today!
Tucker is 12 weeks today! This number seems pretty significant because I feel like ever since Tucker was born, so many friends and fellow moms have told me that "3 months" is the magic number...that for whatever reason, things just really start to click around this time and life begins to feel somewhat normal again... Are we there yet? Well, if you had seen me earlier today when Tucker had the most poop I've ever seen in his diaper, spit-up coming out of his mouth, and pee squirting in his face as I tried to clean him up...you may not have thought so :) But, we're getting close I feel like... things aren't "easy" by any means, but they are definitely easier and for that, we are thankful! As of this past week, life is a lot easier because of Tucker sleeping 8-9 hours every night! He has done it 6 nights in a row now, so it has to be a habit by now :) I just feel like a new person with this much sleep! He has fallen into such a great routine...he eats great, he plays great, and he sleeps fairly well. We have said so many times lately what a sweet baby he is...he really isn't fussy unless something is wrong and he just seems so happy! The smiles and noises he makes are priceless and he's more and more interactive these days! I am loving our days together and do feel like life is getting a little more predictable, which is nice! He's still taking 4 naps a day, but his 6:00 nap is definitely more like a short catnap now that he's sleeping through the night, which is giving us some fun playtime with him before he eats and goes to bed around 7:30-8:00. Brad still loves giving Tucker his late bottle (around 11) so we'll keep doing that for a little while longer.
As I look back on 2008 and look forward to 2009 as far as little Tucker goes, I'm hoping that 2008 were the hardest days and that the easier days are ahead... I know it will always be tough at times, unpredictable, and a constant learning curve, but hopefully those tough newborn days are behind us! I love you little man!

Stacy and Jordan's wedding weekend!

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS TO STACY AND JORDAN! Yeah, you're married!!! And second of all, Tucker is a trooper! Yesterday was Stacy's wedding and it was such an HONOR to get to be a part of her special day and celebrate what I've been praying and hoping for for a long time! Jordan is so great...I approve :) The whole weekend was such a testimony to who they both are and how God has been preparing them for each other all along! The group of bridesmaids was so much fun and all of the events, especially the ceremony and reception were a blast! Thank you Stacy for giving me the opportunity to stand with you on your special day...we are so excited for you guys and the beginning of your journey together!
Ever since Stacy asked me to be in her wedding (when I was pregnant), I knew it would be tricky with a newborn... And, affirmative, it was! But, WE DID IT and I'm so proud of us! As new parents, any new thing that you accomplish feels like such a victory and gives you a lot more confidence on how much you can handle! Gigi (my mom) came with us to help out and her and Brad made me never have to worry about Tucker for a second. Another huge blessing was that there were two other moms in the wedding with little ones too, so none of us were "alone" in the chaos of being a bridesmaid and mommy all at the same time! The trickiest part was definitely the feeding schedule since Tucker still eats every 3 hours! Fortunately, he takes a bottle great, but the timing of it all kept my head spinning most of the weekend! I will spare you the details for the sake of all the male readers :) Tucker slept pretty well in the hotel which was another accomplishment and he even was able to go to the ceremony and the reception without making a scene! The one thing I am learning about myself in this "new mom" phase is that I am just not on my "A" Game most of the time and wow, it is humbling. I like to think I am a pretty thoughtful person who doesn't forget many things or miss a lot of the details, but it's just not happening lately. At midnight the night before the wedding, I realized I forgot to bring pearls to wear with the dress--everyone was supposed to bring their own pearls--so, I had to borrow some from the bride (embarrassing!) and then, when the reception was almost over, I realized that I had forgotten to put on mascara! I never go without mascara! So, I will try to welcome the humbling and learn the lesson of giving myself grace in this adjustment period in my life! It does feel like things are getting more and more back to normal!
We are so thankful for the fun week we have had and now are so thankful to be back at home! We are all exhausted and being extra lazy on this Sunday afternoon!
Enjoy some pictures from the wedding weekend!


All the mommy bridesmaids!





Amy and Caroline (little Charles!)

So good to see old friends!

Tucker loves his GIGI!

Christmas!

All of my family's Christmas traditions happen on Christmas Eve so it's always a busy day! It started in the afternoon when we went to my Mema's to celebrate with my dad's side of the family. Tucker got to meet Mema and the rest of the family for the first time! My cousin Elizabeth just had a baby in May so Tucker and Evelyn are very close in age!

After dinner, we headed over to my mom's side of the family to celebrate at my Papa's house! There were almost 40 people there! Our family keeps growing and growing with new husbands, wives, and children! I have been so excited for my family to meet Tucker and considering it was his bedtime, he stayed awake, remained pretty content, and got held by a lot of people that love him!

After we left Papa's, we headed back to the beach with my family where we stayed up even later to open our presents because we simply cannot wait until Christmas morning to do that :) Tucker got some fun gifts from my family, my favorite thing being his rocking horse--Thanks Gigi and Pops! We are so blessed to have everything we need and to be given fun gifts, but the greatest gift was certainly being with our whole family and getting to experience our first Christmas with Tucker together!

At my Papa's house every year, someone reads the story of Jesus' birth from Luke 2. This year I was asked to read it and it was amazing how differently I read and heard the story in light of having a son this year. I feel like I can begin to imagine how Mary must have felt as she was preparing to have her firstborn son and all the fears, hopes, and emotions that come with that! There is a song that has become one of my favorite songs to listen to around Christmas--it is called Labor of Love and is sung by Jill Phillips on the Behold the Lamb of God CD. It gives beautiful perspective of Mary and the birth of Jesus, her son. I'm so thankful for my son and even more thankful for the Son of God, who came to earth to save us! Enjoy these lyrics and a lot of pictures from these past few days!

Labor of Love
It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town

And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love

Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night

So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love


Tucker meets Mema!


Tucker and his cousin Evelyn!




Meeting cousin Anna!

Tucker in the sling!

The whole fam!

The Boys

Pops and Gigi!

Aunt Margaret!

Dennis, Sara, Molly, and Charlotte

Tucker meets his Papa! Love this man!

Tucker Weekly: Christmas Edition!

What a week we have had! Settle in for a few posts to catch you up on our craziness! Tucker had his first Christmas, went to his first wedding, stayed in his first hotel, and was in 5 different cities over 5 days! It all started on Tuesday when we traveled to the beach to spend a few days for Christmas. Tucker does great in the car and we are so thankful for that! The car seat seems to put him in some sort of coma! Tucker experienced so many new things this week, including meeting so many new family members that have been dying to get their eyes and their hands on him! It was so much fun to introduce him to everyone! He was SO great and flexible during those crazy days that were so different than our normal routine! He stayed up WAY past his bedtime on Christmas Eve without getting too fussy and he tolerated (and enjoyed :) a lot of different people holding him! He received lots of presents, smiled a ton, and slept through most of his first Christmas! The MOST EXCITING report for this week's "Tucker Weekly" is that he is officially sleeping through the night! YEAH!!!!! And sleeping through the night means sleeping for 8 hours...from 11 to 7! He did it for the first time on Christmas Eve night (when he was 11 weeks old) and we figured it was just because he was so tired, but he has done it every night since then...and we have even been traveling! I am so thrilled about this and am enjoying my sleep to say the least! It has been a really fun week despite how exhausted we feel! Traveling with a newborn (or any kids for that matter) takes traveling to a whole different level... but this is just the beginning, right? :) Here are a few pictures and there will be more with the next few posts!

Love these girls!

On Sunday, Tucker got to meet some of my favorite girls... girls that knew me way before I got married and certainly before I became a mom. I met these girls six years ago when I moved to Charlotte and became their Young Life leader. I got to know them, shared life with them, and saw God work in their lives in a lot of different ways. Every year since they graduated high school, we have gotten together over Christmas. This year, all but a few of them are out in the real world! I cannot believe these once 15 year old girls are now teachers, soon to be nurses, and in the corporate world! I'm officially old :) We realized that they are the age I was when I first became their Young Life leader! I'm so thankful for these girls and the way they have been faithful to still get together! It was so fun to introduce them to Tucker and to catch up on life... Thanks for coming to see us girls...I'll look forward to it again next Christmas!
Just for fun...this is the 1st time I hung out with these girls when I moved to Charlotte SIX years ago! Oh, how we've all grown up!!!

Pancakes and Numchucks

This year I decided to start a new tradition with the Gibbs boys (the boys I have helped take care of these last 4 years). For their birthdays, we're going to start having a "special night" together... they have plenty of "stuff" so I'll pass on the gift and take the opportunity to spend time with them,and one-on-one time at that, which is so rare! Miller just had his 9th birthday this week. We told him we would go to a restaurant of his choice and then come back to our house so him and "Mr. Brad" could play the Wii--a big winner of course! Miller picked IHOP, so chocolate chip pancakes it was! He brought one of his favorite motocross Wii games and I'm pretty sure Brad struggled to win a game!
Happy Birthday Miller! We look forward to spending many more with you!

I took a few pictures that night, but maybe I didn't have my memory card in? Here's a picture of Miller with the Tucker on the day he was born!

Tucker Weekly

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... You faithful Tucker Weekly readers are getting impatient, I know :) Life feels really full right now with all the normal stuff plus Christmas stuff, so, that's my excuse....here goes....

Tucker moved on to the double digits this week! Crazy! As I wrote on Monday, we found out he's gained some weight and even grown a little more in height...he's starting to look less like a newborn and more like a little boy!
A few new milestones:
--He slept through the night (one time!) until 6:45 am! The good news is that most other nights, he sleeps until 5 am, so we'll take that for now!
--He has found his hand/fingers to suck on! So cute and hopefully this will keep him entertained when he's a fussy man.
--He's getting better and better at holding his head up and his new favorite thing is laying on his tummy in the boppy so he can really get his head up (like in the picture)

Tucker's gotten his first Christmas presents this week, been taken care of by a few dear friends, survived an all girls bridesmaids weekend and his first road trip, pooped on my leg, gave his face some good scratches with his "too hard to keep short" fingernails, and managed to still steal my heart every single day. Love you little one... can't wait for you to have your first Christmas this week!

2 month stats!

We had Tucker's 2 month well check today and were so glad to hear the doctor say he is healthy, growing, and certainly not hungry :) He weighed in at 13 lbs, 12 oz (he was 11 lbs at 1 month) and he was 24 inches long (he was 23 inches long at 1 month)! He is getting so big! He's in the 90th percentile for weight and 80th for height! We're so proud of our little chunky monkey! The downside of this appt was his first shots! He screamed like a champ but it was quick so mama was thankful. Here's a picture after his shots...he's not too happy :( You can see his little band-aids--one on each upper thigh. Thankfully he had some meat on his bones where the shots went in!

Tucker and the girls!

So, Tucker and I had our first little adventure! Friday, we traveled to Boone (just a few hours away), for my friend Stacy's bachelorette weekend! I'm in her wedding at the end of this month and this weekend all the bridesmaids got to celebrate with her! This was Tucker's first nights away from home so I was definitely curious and a little anxious of how we would do...not to mention that we had to pack everything but the kitchen sink! Who knew a person weighing less than 15 pounds could require so much stuff! But, we survived! And Tucker actually did really well...He slept great for the most part and we we were pretty much able to stay on our routine since we were just hanging out at the house all weekend. When we got there Friday, it started snowing! I'm sad I don't have any pictures of it, but Tucker got to see his first mountains and his first snow! Another fun thing about the weekend was that two other bridesmaids have babies too! So, the three of us and the babies all stayed down in the basement and it was such a blessing to have other moms to hang out with and get to share stories from the similar places we are in!

Meet Stacy... one of my favorite people in the world! She has the most genuine spirit...a huge heart for people around her...a silly nature about her...and she is one of my most steady, faithful, and dearest friends! I am so honored to be a part of her wedding in a few weeks! It was a great weekend with Stacy and all her closest friends...we'll see you all again in a few weeks!


The beautiful bride and Tucker!

My other mommy friends--Amy and Leah! We couldn't get a picture of the 3 little ones together because they never seemed to all be awake at the same time...hopefully we'll get one at the wedding!


All the bridesmaids!

Tucker Weekly

Tucker is 9 weeks old today! It's funny to me that when I sit down to fill you in on Tucker's last week, I have to rack my brain on what's been going on...the days just seem to run together and so much of our time is consumed with eating, sleeping, and pooping (well, Tucker's time that is :)! But, there's nowhere else I'd rather be than spending my days with my little boy and getting a front row seat to all the ways he changes from week to week!
This past week was a busy one... outside of our normal routine, we got our house all decorated for Christmas, Tucker went on his first little road trip (just an hour) to a wedding shower for our friends Stacy and Jordan, and he went to his first Young Life party! As you saw in his 2 month picture, he is giving us smiles all the time now and we love it! He loves to lay on his "playmat" (not sure what else to call it) and stare up at things that hang down from it...he loves to kick his legs and wave his arms around while he listens to the music! He still loves it when I sing to him, sleeps great at night, and decently during the daytime naps. He seems to be much more alert and curious by his surroundings, especially when he's eating and getting ready for bed. We have his 2 month appt on Monday, so I'll update you on his stats then...it's a "shots" appt, so hopefully it won't be too rough on him...and me :)
Life is sweet with our little man and all the challenging moments are just making me realize more and more how I can't be in control all the time, that I don't have all the answers, and that I need to ask for help A LOT!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We get really excited about Christmas around our house! Cool weather...warm sweaters...cookie exchanges...Christmas cards in the mail...Christmas music...apple cider...decorating...an excuse to shop...secret santa...and most of all this year, we get to spend our first Christmas with Tucker! It's crazy to think that this time last year we didn't have Grey and I wasn't pregnant yet! So, this year, we'll do our best to keep Grey out of the Christmas tree and to find time to bake, address Christmas cards, and decorate around when I'm not feeding, changing, and hanging out with Tucker... what an exciting Christmas this should be! Happy holiday season to everyone!

2 months!

2 MONTHS OLD TODAY! We're lovin our growing boy!

If you want to compare to the 1 month picture, click here!

Tucker Weekly

8 weeks! How is that possible? Time is going by so fast it seems and it is certainly bittersweet. I'm sad for reasons like Tucker outgrowing clothes and diapers but very thankful for how much better he's sleeping and interacting with us! His smile is AMAZING...I can't get enough of it! One of my new favorite things has been while I'm putting him to bed...I usually hold him and sing to him before I lay him down and all of a sudden in the last few days, he's starting smiling at me the whole time I'm singing like he's the happiest baby in the world! I can't even describe what I feel in those moments! He's cooing more and he's started to turn and look for you when he hears your voice near him. He's starting to wear some of his 3-6 month clothes...we'll be curious of how much he weighs at his 2 month checkup! We've had a good week getting back into our routine after a busy Thanksgiving week... now, we're getting ready for Christmas around here so more pictures to come on that...