Four Months of Sully

My silly Sully,

I’ve always thought the word of the year was a little hokey. How could one word sum up an entire 365 Days? 2018 was the year that changed my mind. I didn’t really plan on a word of the year, but I read Ephesians 3:20 sometime around the new year, and the word "more" popped out like crazy. Then, over the course of a few days, it reappeared over and over. From the Bible, from conversations with friends, to social media: this was my word. So I entered the new year expectant to hear what God meant by "more."

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen!"

Our first family photo. (Excuse my crazy hair and eyes: growing you made me very tired, so I took lots of naps.)

See, this time last year, your dad and I had just found out about you. I was still in the shock phase, and your dad was beside himself with excitement. In August of 2017, your dad and I began to really pray about when and how we wanted our family to grow. We knew we wanted a sweet Sully, but the doctors said it could be a little tricky. During 21 Days of Prayer at church, we asked God what our steps should be: there are many ways to get a Sully, but we wanted to go about it the way He wanted us to. We felt like God wanted us to try with the doctors, so in December of that year, Mom began to take some medicine. We knew there were no guarantees, and it could take a while to meet you. How excited we were, though, when after only one round, we found out about you!

On January 18th, 2018, your dad had to travel to Birmingham for work. I wasn't planning on going with him, but we had a rare snow at home, so my school was closed. Unfortunately, the school announced it was closed later than when Dad needed to leave, so I stayed at home. The next day, the doctor called with some numbers from blood work that I had to have for my medicine; the sweet nurse read me the results, but because I have no medical knowledge, I didn't know what they meant. My appointment wasn't until the following Monday, so I did the terrible thing that I always advise against-I Googled. According to the internet, based on my blood work, there most likely wasn't a baby growing in my belly. Not knowing what those results meant, I decided to see for myself at home, and wouldn't you know! There was news of a baby! I gave myself ten minutes to freak out and then I headed to my workout that I had scheduled. Do you know how hard it is to work out with a fresh Sully-sized secret?? Answer: difficult.

This was the morning your dad left for Birmingham, just one day before I found out about you.

After my workout, I headed back home, and for the next hour, I played worship music and worked around the house thanking God for you. There are few moments in my life that I consider sacred, and this was one of them. It was you, me, and God. I have always thought that I wanted to tell your dad about you in a fun way, but I am horrible at keeping things from him and wasn't sure how I could ever do that. Literally, most of what runs through my brain ends up in his ear at some point. God wink, though! Distance helped me wait, so my lips were zipped. We FaceTimed and talked as we normally would when Dad's out of town, and I didn't say a word.

Your dad and I ate supper "together" via FaceTime while he was gone, and I somehow managed to keep my secret to myself!

A trip to Target yielded a cute pair of baby booties, "Guess How Much I Love You," and a balloon for our surprise. I set them on our bed, and when your dad got home, he walked upstairs to set his stuff down. He opened the door, and there was our little prize for him! Buddy, from day one, Dad was ecstatic to meet you! For the next few days, we kept talking about how we just couldn't believe that a Sully was going to enter our lives in the next nine months: we dreamed, planned, and celebrated. The following Monday, the doctor confirmed what we already knew, and as they say, the rest was history. Now you are here, and we love you to the moon and back!

My phone was hidden with the video on, and it's one of my most prized possessions.

Now, my dude, I can say that yes, "more" was my word: more love, more joy, more reasons to worship and praise our God.

One Second Everyday

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Size:

We went to the doctor on January 14th for some pesky skin issues, and you weighed 15.5 pounds! My arm muscles are developing quite nicely thanks to you! You got several three month outfits for Christmas, but by the middle of January, your toes and belly were busting out of them, so we have officially swapped you to 3-6 month size clothing.

Recently, you've been rocking a pair of gloves or hat every day because you keep scratching at your head and face. You have a cream now from the doctor which is helping so much!

Sleep:

Oh, sleep! On December 29th, you slept through the night for the first time from 9:00-6:00, and it was AWESOME! It all went downhill from there! (Okay, that may be a bit dramatic-you still wake up only once a night, but crib training for naps has been difficult.)

Look how proud you are!! That face!!

We've been working on getting you in your crib for naps, and so far it's going just okay. You seem to love the routine of going upstairs, changing your diaper, and swaddling up. After a verse of "Twinkle Twinkle" and a kiss on the head later, we lay you down, and you go to sleep. The problem, though, my buddy, is that you are not wanting to take a nap longer than 20-30 minutes. I honestly don't care if you don't nap, but you wake up cranky and are dozing off during playtime less than an hour later, so I know you need more sleep. I've tried troubleshooting the best I can, but as of now, we let you fuss in your crib for a little bit then get you to start our wake, eat, play, sleep routine over again.

Eating:

This one is tricky, little man. After three visits to the doctor, we finally put all of your symptoms together: you have a milk protein intolerance. Because of that, I am officially dairy free; you are worth every dessert, every piece of cheese, every food that has butter that I have to say no to, but it's been a lot of work. I'm trying my best to pump every two hours to keep up with your eating because the hundreds of ounces in our freezer can't be used. It's a major bummer because I worked so hard for that freezer stash, but we'll rebuild it a little at a time. Freezing milk was easier when you ate just a couple of ounces, but now I'm just one or two bottles ahead of you at a time because you eat an average of five ounces each time.

Likes/Hates:

Silly is the word that best describes you this month. Instead of crying when you get tired, you start babbling to keep yourself awake. It is adorable, but it did take us a few days to figure out when you're tired resulting in a couple of overtired moments. You are such a ham when you are in a good mood, and we frequently have "dance parties" where you stand up and shake your booty; it makes you laugh so big! Your favorite thing right now is sitting up like a big boy on our laps or in your activity center.

"Vest Friends"

You still strongly dislike tummy time but it is getting better now that you can hold your head up better.

Favorite Moments:

You have been such a sweet baby this month! Last month, you became cranky when you were tired, but now, you start talking to try to keep yourself awake. It's adorable, and you are sure of whatever it is you are saying.You've also been especially sweet in your snuggling. You just sit with us on the couch sometimes, and after a nap, you lay on our chest in the sweetest way.

Our little family is adjusting to our new normal, so for the most part, we do the same things we've always done; it just looks a little different. We wear you around the house for chores, set you in your activity center for dinner, and take you to restaurants. Mom and Dad have figured out a family schedule that works for us now that Mom is home and Dad has work and grad school, and our weeks run much more efficiently. We both get to work out; we both cook supper; and we both get some alone time to reset.

January was really busy! My sweet friend, Erin got married at the beach, so you stayed back for half a day and did great. We also left you with the sitter again while we celebrated our other friend, Jeremy's birthday. Dad traveled to California for your great, great grandmother's funeral, so you and I had our first nights alone. It went really well! We played and played, and just had the best time together!

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Hearing the word "more" in a season where you're praying for a Sully was scary. It had the potential for disappointment; we would have trusted God in what He meant for the word, but it was a hard not to get our hopes up. "More" could have been a different lesson for us, and we would have accepted it, but my sweet boy, how glad I am that "more" meant you.

You and I traveled with Dad to the same conference he was at one year ago. This picture is exactly one year almost to the minute that I found out about you. We celebrated in the hotel with 21 Days of Prayer online.

Love,

Mom