Easter (18 weeks)

We stopped in at Nana and Grandpa's after church and Crawford had a basket of money filled eggs waiting on him! He was a happy little man!
He is just mesmerized by these jiggle pets I think they are called. You pull down and they make this crazy vibrating noise and C will just stare at them. He has just learned how to pull it himself when sitting in his carseat and he gets mad if he can't get it in his mouth!


C's Easter basket from the Easter bunny.

C trying out some of his beach gear. We are going to the beach in a week and we had to make sure he had all the proper beach essentials!

So Brad doesn't have an opinion very often on clothing. However, when he walked in to Gymboree he said Crawford just had to have this bathing suit ensemble so even though it's not much my taste it was fun to see Brad actually have an opinion on an outfit...so C will sport his pineapple bathing suit.

C showing off his new bathing suits!

Daddy and C at Soby's Easter brunch

We had the best seats at brunch and C let us enjoy the first half of brunch so we were thankful for that!

Storytime with mommy

All smiles even after his 4 shots he got at the doctor!

He loves laying on the floor and starting at us standing above him. Who knows why?! But we can literally entertain him forever when he is laying down on the brown rug.

One Year Ago

It was just last year that the girls were having a fun weekend getaway in Charlotte.... I started feeling nauseated and not myself the week following the fun trip...This prompted me to take a pregnancy test after not being able to pinpoint where the nausea was coming coming from. We realized on April 18, 2010 that we were going to be parents! It's so hard to believe that you were so little in my tummy and have brought so much joy to our lives these past 4 months!

And here you are today already 4 months old! It is truly amazing that you are this precious little boy who is babbling, trying to sit up and starting to eat solids and starting to giggle and light up our lives each and every day!

We love you sooo much and can't believe that in one short year we have been given the greatest blessing in life! Crawford you are so healthy and happy and we couldn't ask for anything more! I just can't believe that one year has passed since I found out that you were going to be our first child! I just put you to sleep and I miss your smiling face already!

4 months

Crawford you are a real character these days. I am presently watching you on the activity mat as you try to pull the ladybug that is dangling above your head into your mouth. You are literally pulling as hard as you can and you are getting so mad that it won't make it to your mouth. You are so much more predictable these days and you would stay out and about all day long if we let you. You are most happy when we are out running errands and you stay so content just taking in all the sights and sounds. You melt my heart every time I lay my eyes on you. I am always so sad when you don't wake up before I leave for work because seeing your smiling face in the morning makes my whole day so much better. I love all your talking and sweet smiles and just really am relishing in each little milestone you reach. You are so perfect to me and I literally don't like being apart from you ever. I still follow you around the house even when daddy has you and I just never want to miss a single thing that you are doing. 4 months:

• Weight:n~ 13 pounds 12 ounces (26%)



• Length: ~ 25.75 inches (76%)


• Dr. says you are healthy as can be and was so happy to see what a sweet little boy you are. This made mommy and daddy proud! We are SO thankful that you are healthy and growing little boy!


• It is so easy to get you to smile these days. Just put you on your back and say "hiii Crawford" and you start grinning from ear to ear



• Speaking of smiling, you love being on your back and it seems to be your favorite position to chill and relax



• You have slept in your crib every single night this past month--yaaay Crawford!



• You sleep from about 10 to 8 every day and have only deviated from this 3 times in the last month so no complaints around here.



• We still swaddled you for the majority of this last month and it just finally became silly because you would break free of the swaddle within minutes of us laying you down.



• You started wearing size 2 diapers this past week



• You wear size 3-6 and 6 month clothes



• You have begun to put EVERYTHING in your mouth



• You are working up an appetite and let us know that you are interested in food by starting us down each time we eat. It's as if you are salivating and I feel guilty eating in front of you. (Hence why we thought we would test out the rice cereal this week)



• Your favorite toy has to be the owl that hangs from your carseat. When we pull it down it vibrates and you are totally mesmerized by the owl. It most certainly always steals your attention away.



• Your fingers are your life line and you usually prefer sucking on your middle and ring finger but you discovered your thumb last week and will sometimes suck on it as well



• So many firsts for us this past month- We took you to breakfast (Cracker Barrell), several lunches, and dinner (Wild Wings) and you were great at all of them.



• You have rolled from your back to your tummy (once while we set you on the rug in the bathroom before bathtime) and from your tummy to your back (once while I had you on the couch before leaving for work)---still very sporadic and usually only if you get upset can you fling that little body of yours around



• We heard our first few chuckles out of you and it's so sweet. You let these little squeals and chuckles out usually when we blow on or kiss your little neck



• You are still just drinking breastmilk. Grandpa or daddy feeds you bottles during the day and mommy nurses you in the morning (when I work at 11) and always at night



• Daddy has gotten you to sleep at night once since you have been born (we were so proud of him) he took you up to your glider and gave you a bottle with about 6 ounces and rocked you and luckily 45 minutes later you were out and stayed asleep until the next morning



• You are not the best nap taker for me. You generally fall asleep while nursing and as along as I don't move you off my lap you will stay asleep. You will dose off if we run errands but usually you are awake most of the day. Daddy and Grandpa say that you nap best in your swing but grandpa sometimes puts you in the crib as well (oh did we mention that he sings the Marine Hymn to get you to sleep and he says it works like a charm)



• You love attention and as long as someone is paying your some or entertaining you you will stay happy. You don't like being left alone or ignored or we will hear about it.



• You are talking up a storm. You will start by blowing bubbles and then just start babbling it up (most often when you are on your back getting your diaper changed)



• You are a drooling fool and I need to start keeping bibs handy



• You just started grabbing for objects and I love it because you get so excited when you grasp the object in your little hands



• You are still fussy at night and we just guess that's going to be your fussy time for the time being

Brittany and Alexis came to visit and we just had the greatest time. You were so good for us and we took you to Twigs for lunch and then ran to the mall, target, whole foods, and buy buy baby. We even took you to downtown alive for a little evening out and you were great. This is such a huge change from the last time the girls were visiting. They adored you and we can't wait to meet your new buddy or girlfriend when Britt has a little one in Sept.

Here he's thinking man I like that rice cereal but not as much as my fingers.

Oh we tried rice cereal 2 days before your 4 month birthday and you just couldn't get enough of it. You would literally try to slurp it up and didn't want to miss a drop. I eneded up mixing up 2 bowls for you and I think you would have kept going. I didn't notice any sleep or bowel changed from the new addition to your diet yet. You wanted to hold the spoon yourself and although you seemed to love it you still have the reflex of pushing your tongue out so it is very hard to get a large amount to stay in your mouth!

Daddy and C just hanging

tummy time ...you are getting much stronger on your tummy but you still don't like spending much time on your tummy.

16 weeks!

Happy 16 weeks Crawford! Oh man he just gets cuter every day. I am loving his smiles, his babbling, his little chuckles, and his little active self that wants to constantly be moving! We have had some fun this week...working on flipping he has flipped from tummy to back and back to tummy just a handful of times but enough to have mommy and daddy feeling proud! He's still sleeping so great 10 hours or so a night..so we decided to go out on a limb tonight and for the first time in 16 weeks Brad gave Crawford a bottle and rocked him to sleep. I kept waiting to hear crying coming from his room but about 45 minutes later daddy emerged from his room proud of his accomlishment. It's been an hour now and still no peeps coming from his room.. I am so interested to see how long his 6 ounce bottle will take him. I sure love being the one to feed and put him to bed but it would be great to know that he is able to fall asleep without mommy being home at 9 pm every night!

Hey buddy this is why we do tummy time to strengthen those muscles of yours!

This is why tummy time is difficult. I sure hate seeing him this upset...

C's smiles are the BEST in the morning...I always go in there with my camera but he sees that giant black thing in his face and always stops chessing for me!

Brad and LB

On my days off I spend all my time just loving on Crawford except for the 1 hour I head out to the gym when daddy gets home from work...but when I return I just can't wait to hold C again!

We've started reading books to Crawford after bath time and he will generally look at the pictures until he gets bored which is usually half way through a book...hey we'll take what we can get!

Loving that we get smiles all the time now!

The Greer Citizen came out to write up an article on Brad's dad. They recapped his wonderful career with JPS for the past 50 years (I can't imagine working for ONE company for that long) and it was such a sweet article highlighting all of the wondeful qualities and accomplishments of Crawford's Grandpa. Crawford you sure are lucky because you just might have the greatest Granpa ever! They also mentioned how after 50 years of work Grandpa Doug was retiring to take care of Crawford and took some pictures of them. This will be such a sweet memory for Crawford to always have to look back on. We are so thankful for Papa Redd and the bond that him and Crawford are going to share is going to be so special!

His favorite time of night (besides eating) is of course bath time. He loves kicking his legs around. He could literally be screaming and throwing a fit and then we bring him up for his bath, set him in the water, and he is immediately quiet!

Daddy sent this picture to my while I was at work..this is C taking a bottle except that he doens't like daddy to hold the bottle he wants to feed himself. He did this to me the other day when I gave him his medicine he immediately took hold of the syringe with his fingers.

Sweet little C napping in his swing...sucking away at his fingers

15 weeks re-do

Crawford-- you are getting cuter and sweeter by the day! You are lasting longer between meals and are pretty content during the day which has allowed for some fun day errands. We have met daddy for lunch and visited the grocery and target several times. It is so fun to take you around town because it makes my shopping trip so entertaining. You have gotten a little more cuddly (but mommy would still enjoy more cuddle time!) You are still a man on the go (I mean you just never want to sit still) and the entertainment we most provide in the evenings to keep you occupied include terrible singing by mommy and daddy! We love watching you grow!