Baby Boy Obsessed- 1 month of Milo

In honor of Milo's 1 month mark tomorrow, I am updating the blog and putting up some more photos. I literally cannot believe that he is a month old. It is crazy how fast it has gone by, he is growing so fast and I am having fun watching him grow and learn, but a part of me just wants him to stay my little baby forever. I am trying to enjoy every minute because I know he won't stay little for long. He is still doing really well, he's 7 pounds now and is finally fitting into most of his newborn clothes. It will be sad to see him grow out of them, but at the same time, I have a lot more cute things in larger sizes, so it'll be good to have more variety in his wardrobe. I am a clothes freak, so it's so fun for me to dress him.
Joe and I are now on a new adventure of night weaning Milo. We were told by our doctor that we could start at 4 weeks, so that by 6 weeks he would sleep through the whole night. I put Milo on a feeding schedule for the first time yesterday. I fed him every 3 hours and then at night I only did 1 feeding instead of 2. I thought that he would have a hard time, but he was a champ. He slept until 4:30 am without a peep. Joe fed him at 4:30 and then Milo had to wait until 8 am to eat again. He had a little harder time waiting until his 8 am feeding, but we made it without too much difficulty. As he was fussing this morning I kept thinking that he was thinking, "Mom, I can't figure out how you are not getting this, I'm hungry." It has already started-being a mom is not always the most fun because you want to give your child everything he/she wants, but you know that, sometimes if you don't, it will be better for everyone involved. It is a great experience for me because one day it'll be something that is a much bigger deal than a feeding schedule. I will really have to practice self control so that I don't just give into everything he wants-because inside I really want to. (If you haven't noticed-he's a really cute boy.) I don't want to make him sad or mad, but am the parent, so it's my job to do what I feel is best for him in the long run. All of these lessons build on each other, and help me to see how what I do now will matter in the future.
Milo is much more alert now. He stays awake for about 1-2 hours after feedings and it is great to be able to see his big beautiful brown eyes more often now.  He loves to hold his head up and look around. He is also starting to coo, he makes the sweetest little sounds. He is still a happy, smiley little boy and he has just lightened up our lives. He loves to be held, especially when he is tired. He wants to be rocked to sleep and I don't mind it, I love snuggling him. It does make getting any work done difficult, but housework can wait. I have somewhat remedied that problem because Joe's sister, Wendy, gave me her old Moby wrap. I tie that on, put Milo in it, where he is snuggled against my chest, and it keeps him close, but allows me full use of my arms. I can then attend the house and other things that I need and want to do-like blogging.
Joe and I are trying to plan our Halloween costumes, it will be a bit more difficult this year because now we have a third member to coordinate with. We will make sure that we come up with some fabulous because we understand everyone's expectations. :) We are so excited for the upcoming Holidays with Milo.  Joe-who always gets excited for Christmas early- has already told me that he is psyched to have Christmas with Milo. He said it was going to be fun with a baby. I told him that Milo wouldn't really have any idea what was going on, and he said, "It doesn't matter. We'll have a new little spirit in our home and that will make Christmas even more memorable." I thought that was so cute. I am going to do my best not to whine about the cold weather, but just enjoy the season and all of the firsts that our family gets to experience this year.
It's funny, on day Milo was born, Joe and I were trying to keep ourselves really busy so the day wouldn't seem like a million years long (although it did anyway), so I went to a work lunch with Joe. We ate at P.F. Chang's, after lunch, I got a fortune cookie and this is what it said, "Frustrating issues you have been dealing with will soon pass." Well they did, and sooner than I could have imagined. I have been at peace with my life and had such a reduction of stress since I have been a stay at home mom. My life is full, meaningful, and what I used to consider "boring" is now very exciting and fulfilling to me. Despite the nightly feedings, I have been sleeping pretty well. I can go to sleep quickly and stay asleep longer. That is a huge deal for me because I have always been a terrible sleeper, taking forever to fall asleep, and waking up multiple times a night. I believe my sleeping has gotten better because 1. I am exhausted by the time I go to bed  2. My life is less stressful and I am not worrying about so many things. (Other moms-I realize that at some point in my life, Milo will give me sleepless nights, but for now I am quite at peace with him and my life. :)
I have some big plans for the upcoming month. Halloween for 1, 2. we are taking Milo to his first RSL game on the first 3. Hopefully taking a short vacation. My best friend, Kelsey had her baby boy Brigham, the day before Milo was born. We really couldn't have planned that better. When I found out that we had been chosen and that the baby was due right when Kelsey's baby was, I just laughed and said, "Of course. It just makes sense." Kelsey and I have always seemed to do everything together since high school, so it is funny that we would have our first babies 1 day apart and that they are both boys. We have talked and are pretty sure that Brigham and Milo planned this all out in heaven. Kelsey and Derek are blessing Brigham on Oct 13 and I want to go down to AZ so bad to meet Brigham and to see Kelsey as a mommy. I don't know how I am going to make that work out -considering money- but I want it to happen so badly. If anyone is going down to the Phoenix area at that time and want to give a new mommy and baby a ride-we'll take it. :)
Well that is what we are up to at our house. We hope that things are going wonderfully in your own homes and lives. Below are some more pictures of little Milo. I am obsessed with taking pictures of him, I try to take at least 1 picture of him a day (but I usually take a lot more) I am trying to document his growth, not only for me, but for his birth mom. We write her letters and send pictures once a month, so I want to make sure that she has all the pictures she needs to help her see that Milo is healthy, happy, and well taken care of. The first few pictures were taken by the amazing Tamey Brown. I'm so grateful to her for helping us out, and giving us some wonderful family and baby pictures. The other professional looking ones were taken by Bella Baby in the hospital when Milo was only 2 days old. Enjoy!

 

Milo is here and we are in baby Heaven!

It has been 16 days since Milo was born, and I can honestly say that we are in baby heaven. He is such a sweet little boy and we can't believe how fast he is growing. He is smiley, happy and easy going. We couldn't have asked for a better baby. We love him so much and are so grateful for all the miracles that happened to get him here. If you want more information, just read the Milo page I made. Here's to having a wonderful and incredibly adorable son!

The count down is on!

People have been asking for specifics about our match and so I am going to cure everyone's curiosity. It  really is quite amazing how everything happened. We had our home study done and then the very next day we got a call saying that the agency had a situation they wanted us to look at and know if we would be willing to show the birth mom our profile. They told me to let them know by Friday if we wanted to show our profile. I was freaking out a little bit because Joe had left that morning to go on a campout with the Young Men and he didn't have any reception in the mountains. I left him some messages and just hoped that by some miracle he would get them. I called the agency and told them our situation and that I didn't want to make any decisions without talking to Joe first. They were really nice and told us to take the weekend and to let them know on Monday what our decision was.
On the way up to the campout Joe's radiator blew in his car so he had to go down to town to get a part to fix it. While he was in town he got my messages and he called me back. He said he was all for showing our profile, but he would look at everything when he got home on Friday evening.  When Joe came home, we looked over the birth mom's profile, prayed a lot and felt that we should show her our profile- so on Monday we let the agency know. The birth mom is in Utah to have the baby, he's a full African American boy and is due on Aug 28.
This last Tuesday right before we were about to leave to celebrate Pioneer Day with Joe's family we got a phone call from the agency letting us know that the birth mom has chosen us. It was the best telephone call we have ever received. My heart has never beat faster and I have never smiled so wide and cried at the same time. I felt like jumping through the roof. As soon as we got off the phone with the agency, I called my mom and then all the rest of my family to share our good news. We when finally made it out to Joe's family party, I shouted the news to everyone and all the women in the family burst into tears. It is so wonderful to have people share in our excitement.  It was crazy because we both felt really good about the situation but we didn't want to get excited about it because you never know what is going to happen. Also, it almost never happens that you get chosen by the first birth mother that sees your profile. It also is nuts because the home study is supposed to take 5 weeks to complete and right now it's not even been 3 weeks. Our social worker was awesome because she stayed up all night to get our paper work done and she went to the agency and said," This couple really needs to start being shown situations right away." For my personal interview with her after the home study, she told me that she thought Joe and I were a great couple and that she had a feeling that we were going to go really fast. I didn't expect it to be this fast, but am so happy it did. It really was meant to be and we can really see how the Lord brought this all about. I remember when we first prayed about adoption and how I got the feeling that our baby was coming quickly and so we needed to move forward with adoption and get our paperwork done quickly. It is amazing how the Lord works. We are so excited for this new addition to our family and can't believe that we have less than a month before his due date.
It's full baby mode over at the Weight household. We have been registering at different baby stores, Joe's brother gave us a crib which is up in the nursery waiting to be assembled, and family is quickly throwing together baby showers. I am so excited for the baby showers because I just want to celebrate with the friends and family that I love.
We are a little stressed about the money situation because we have to come up with a very large sum of money in a very short time, but we feel that the Lord brought this about and everything will work out. Things are going to be tight for awhile, but we are willing to sacrifice to get this baby here. We are praying that the Lord will watch out for us and somehow we will be able to have the necessities that we and the baby need to get by for the next year or so.
We are meeting the birth mom tonight and are a little nervous and anxious to meet her, but we already feel like we love her so much. I hope that she will feel that love for her and for the baby. It's funny because I haven't met either of them but I feel so connected to them and already love them so much. I pray that it will be a good experience for both Joe and I and the birth mom and that she will feel confident in her decision to choose us.
This is really happening!!! Give or take 30 days until our little boy is here!

Nursery & New Decor

This is the before picture of what will be the nursery.
It is a lovely rendition of Van Gough's Starry Starry Night. (PS this is how it was painted when we moved in.)

I called the color of the surrounding walls-Mac and Cheese Yellow. 

This is the finished product. The wheel is going to hang on the chimney wall there.
My friend,  Lindsey helped me make the new curtains.
I love how they look with the walls. 

This was the left hand side wall. Again, it was a beautiful Mac and Cheese yellow. 

This is the wall repainted. I think it turned out so cute! 

This is the right hand side wall before painting. 

This is after painting. 

These next pictures are of the curtains that Lindsey helped me make. 

Oh so cute! 

I found a these pictures at Dollar Tree & was so excited because they were my colors, beach themed, cute, & inexpensive! 

Another awesome Dollar Tree find. 

This is what I did with the pictures. It is in the hall in between the nursery and our bedroom in the loft. 

I painted and redid this book shelf up in the loft. 

This is going up the stairs to the loft. I painted the banister which was just a cream color and
tried to make it look old and worn. Then I redecorated the shelf with some of my
pirate shipwrecked items.

Home Study

The home study went really well. We are already pre-approved and our profile is now being shown to potential birth mothers. We are ecstatic and are hoping that things move quickly for us. Our social worker, Megan, was really nice and we enjoyed talking to her and showing her around our house. I was feeling a lot better about the house because I had spent 3 straight days organizing, cleaning, painting, and decorating. The house looks so much better now and I think we could actually fit a baby in it now. I painted the nursery and redid all of the loft. It was so much work, but it needed to be done, so I was glad to have the motivation to do it. I am happy to report that the house has stayed cleaned for an entire 2 weeks now and I am hoping that trend continues. I will post some pics soon of the completed projects that I worked on and the nursery.

Yard and Bake sale this Sat

We are having another yard/bake sale. It will be this Saturday, June 22. From 8-noon at 602 Canyon Drive in Springville. We have a lot of good items again, we even have a really nice guitar and electric bass guitar with an amp that we are selling.  We have a lot of furniture, movies, electronics, and games, books, clothing, and baby supplies to sell as well. We are hoping that it will be at least half as successful as our last yard/bake sale. If you are in need of any items, come check it out and buy yourself a treat as well. We will even have snow cones there!

Quilt for Auction

Check out this beautiful hand made quilt my friend made for our auction. I love it! Whoever buys this is going to be 1 lucky person.