First Birthday

I'm not sure how it's possible, but we have a 1 year old.

My beautiful baby boy is a whole year old. He is full of joy and is so sweet and loving.

The kisses, the snuggles, the waves... he is such a blessing to us. 

It's hard to remember what life was like before having Grayson. I still find myself having the thought 'how is it possible that I have a child?' We made a person. A sweet little adorable person.

This whole parenting thing has been so much different than I ever imagined. And as much as I have learned about parenting, I think I've learned even more about myself. 

The phrase 'the days are long but the years are short' has never felt more true. There are days that I just don't want to be an adult...I want to sleep in, take a long hot shower and lay on the couch watching movies...but there are also days that I feel like I can't catch the special, sweet moments quickly enough as they are passing by. I debate between trying to capture the moments on camera, or just being in the moment and experiencing Grayson and who he is.

It feels surreal that this boy is ours.

We are thankful for the special day we celebrated his life and all that this past year held for us.

Our boy has turned into a fussy, non sleeping little boy who kind of made us question everything, and now he is a kind, loving little boy who sleeps through the night, gives the sloppiest open mouth kisses, says "ma" and "dada", he waves at everyone, snuggles us, claps and smiles so big with excitement about the smallest things. He is amazing! He is so special! We love him so much! 

Here's to year 2 with him... may we learn how to love more passionately, be more patient, embrace every moment, be present at all times.

Sincerely, Loo

What a beautiful thing.

We’ve made it over a year!  

Nursing has been so special, and so hard at the same time. We’ve shared special moments, sad, frustrating, painful, sleepy, tear filled, beautiful, and intimate moments during this breastfeeding journey. 

I never planned or thought through how long I would breastfeed my baby, I just knew that I wanted to do it. 

I never questioned it. 

We are now 13 months in, and I can’t imagine doing it any other way. I’m thankful that I stuck it out and that even through the hard times, we found a way to make it work.

From the moment the nurse laid my beautiful baby boy on my chest after a 54 hour labor, he snuggled right up and latched within minutes. How beautiful and incredible that our bodies just knew what to do. It still overwhelms me to think about it.

Although it seemed to start easy and quickly, within the next few days and weeks, we faced a lot of challenges. My milk came in which was painful for me and made it so hard for us to get a good latch. I was dealing with dryness and cracking (super thankful for Honest Co. nipple balm). He had a weird clicking when nursing which meant his latch was poor, I never felt like my sweet boy was getting enough milk, and I couldn’t keep him awake long enough for a full feeding, which then left me standing in the bathroom with tears running down my face having to hand pump to get some relief.  

We called a lactation consultant who was recommended to us and she came to our home and helped us work through some things and noticed that Grayson had a slight tongue tie. She said that it wasn’t serious enough to consult with a surgeon, but mentioned that taking him to the chiropractor may help. We were skeptical at first, but we did our research and felt confident trying this option.

At this point, we were nursing constantly, but still didn’t feel like Grayson was getting enough milk. We were up all through the night, at least once an hour, nursing. We were exhausted, feeling hopeless and frustrated. The chiropractor was our best shot. 

During our first visit, Grayson was adjusted, and he fell asleep  in my arms and slept for 3 hours, one of his longest stretches so far. The adjustments helped him so much and ultimately helped his latch and nursing became so much easier for us. 

The rest is almost hard to remember... he became great at nursing and started sleeping well. Nursing became second nature to us. I don't have to look and watch and help him, I just stick him under the blanket, and he finds his way. Whether we are walking around downtown, flying on a plane, at a major league baseball game, laying in bed... it's just easy and thoughtless now. It's enjoyable and special.

I'm incredibly thankful for the persistence, the blogs that I read in the middle of the night, the tears (from babe being rough) and the laughs (from babe tickling me and rubbing my arms while he nurses). It was a journey that seemed endless and impossible at times, but now at 13 months, I just feel thankful.

The Honest Company provides a really great formula and breastfeeding resource for any mamas looking for support!

Sincerely, Loo