My Sweet Journey: July 2016

Today I am 5 months!! • I am learning so much and developing
so fast that my momma and daddy can't keep up! •
I smile and giggle all the time • some of my favorite things are spitting •
rolling on to my tummy • trying hard to sit up • the fish in my swing •
being held by pretty much everyone • swimming • splashing in my tub and
trying to eat the soap suds • yelling and babbling non-stop •
and taking my pacifier out of my mouth • my dislikes are taking my
pacifier out of my mouth • when dad doesn't shave and gives me kisses •
being bored • when it's too quiet in the house • not being able to
control my hands so I hit myself in the face with my toys a lot •
and not being able to be outside more • June is my best friend
and is learning that I like to grab her fur and kick her face •
my mom and dad can't stop kissing my chubby cheeks!

Will turned 4 months while we were in San Francisco, so finishing up our first family vacation was a pretty perfect start to month 5! Our little boy is just growing up too fast and while everyone warned me it goes by quickly, no one really mentions how it goes quickly and then seems to rev up to an even faster pace all the time!

When we returned from our vacation it was time for Will's 4 month appointment! We have the most amazing pediatrician's office and love our pediatrician Dr. Day. I appreciate how she is a doctor and gives her advice as such, but is also a mom to younger kids and so she will offer her perspective as a mom too. She is kind and conversational and will tell you like it is. She is also so patient to answer all my inane questions about sleeping and feeding and milestones. At Will's 4 month appointment, she heard a sound in Will's heart and told us she strongly suspected a heart murmur and actually was surprised we had not heard it before since it was so pronounced. She gave us a referral to a pediatric cardiologist and told us to see him asap to get everything checked out. I have to be honest and say I was pretty freaked out. It came to me that my dad was said to have a heart murmur, so I guess it was genetic, but I really didn't know exactly what a heart murmur would mean for Will. We made our appointment with Dr. Stock a highly recommended pediatric cardiologist in the valley. When we mentioned it to different family members in the days that followed it came to our attention that apparently both Laurie and Ashley have heart murmurs too! Surprise to us!

The cardiology appointment was one part worrying, one part frustrating trying to keep an active infant still and occupied in a dark room during the echocardiogram, and one part adorable watching Will get hooked up to all these machines that would read oxygen levels, pulse rates, etc. He looked like a little cyborg baby!

All the nurses and techs were so incredibly patient with him and of course enamored at how cute and sweet he was. The Dr. came to talk to us afterward and Will has "mild pulmonary stenosis". Mild was the main word I latched on to. Will's heart murmur is one that people commonly grow out of and definitely show no symptoms of. Will can still play sports, be active, cry, etc without worry about strain on his heart, but we would watch for it getting worse. The Dr. asked if there was any history of heart condition in Will's family and when I started sharing about the multiple heart attacks his grandpa has had as well as heart attacks on my side of the family, the Dr. was amazed. Then I told him that genetic high cholesterol was really common for his dad and grandpa, he definitely took note. This poor little boy has the odds stacked against him. But they were not concerned about the murmur at this stage and would need to see him again after 6 months. Dr. Stock also noted how incredibly cute Will's outfit was and Will ended up doing a tiny fashion show for all the nurses to oo and aah over.

After the Dr. gave his information and confidence in Will's health, I tried not to worry about it. I actually and thankfully often forget that Will even has it!

A few days later it was father's day! I had a whole celebration planned out for Aaron and was so excited to get to honor him the way he honored me for mother's day, but unfortunately I woke up feeling absolutely miserable! I felt so cold and achy and realized I was running a horribly high fever. I was so confused as to whether it was even possibly to get the flu in the dead of summer. Then a few other symptoms presented themselves and I realized I had Mastitis! NOT OK! I called my Dr. and she called in some antibiotics and I spent the whole day laying on the couch shivering and under a pile of blankets feeling the most sick I had felt in a LONG TIME. It took a couple days to recover and feel somewhat normal! Nursing Will was stupid painful, but we made it through!

Aaron spent his first Father's day taking care of his son mainly on his own and caring for me too. Not how I wanted to celebrate and honor him. We did get to make sure dad opened his gift, which was a digital picture frame for him to take to work that was full of photos of Will and our little family.

A week later we had a do over with a proper celebration going out to lunch at Fame Cafe and doing whatever Aaron wanted all day!

I can't say enough how in awe I am of this man!
He has taken to fatherhood and embraced it with such honesty
and beauty and he has been present and by my side without
question or hesitation! Aaron was born to be a dad and I am
so honored to get to watch him day in and day out love our boy.
Babe, thank you for loving our little man, for wanting what is best
for him, for researching all things baby so we can talk through
things together. I love that you watch soccer with him on
Saturday mornings, laugh with me in he middle of the night when
we hear him "foam" a diaper. I love that you sing him silly songs and
make him smile so big. I love that he has your smile and hair color and
basically is a mini version of you. I love that I can hear you through
the monitor early in he morning having sweet talks with him. I love that you
don't want Will to ever be hurt or sad or cry. I love that you pray for
him and pray specific things about what he'll become. I love that you
will sit and marvel at him for hours with me and say over and over
again that we have the best baby! I just can't say enough about
what a great dad you are! Happy first Father's Day!

We finished out June and went into July with a celebration of the 4th of July! I love all the holidays you celebrate for the first time, but I have to admit I just get even more excited thinking about in the years to come when you get to participate in all the fun holiday activities even more! For now, I take advantage of the fact that you will lay there and let to do crazy cute photo shoots!

When Aaron and I bought our house, we were told by every neighbor we met what a big deal the neighborhood 4th of July Parade was! Everyone heads down to the park where there are vendors and food and drinks for free to take part in! They also all decorate bikes and wagons and strollers and walk around the park! We were excited to check it out! We weren't sure exactly what time everything started at, so we showed up right at the beginning - BAD IDEA! Things didn't actually start until about an hour after they said it would, so by that time we were hot and Will was starting to get fussy and we weren't really sure what was going on. We sadly had to head home before the "parade" even started. Again I am more excited for the years to come when Will will have a wagon and can sit up in it and be pulled around the park! We did hear that after the parade a fire truck came and sprayed a fire hose into the air so that it created rain over everyone to play in! So cool! Can't wait till next year!

Regardless of the disappointing scheduling, we still had a great time running into neighbors and friends!

That afternoon we headed out to the Mozingo Hippie compound for fun with our home group and of course the best hosts in town - Rand and Michelle Mozingo. We ate delicious food and played with sparklers and Will was passed around from person to person and was happy as could be!

Will is a little pyromaniac just like his mom and pop pop and is always transfixed by fire!

The next day, the Thompson family all got together to see my cousin Matt and his wife Sylvia and their kiddos while they were in town after having spent the last few years in Germany. I hadn't seen them in too long and they hadn't actually ever met Aaron! I also was excited to meet their precious little girl, Micah. I love this family so incredibly much and I am so excited they are back on US soil, but quite sad that they are all the way in Virginia!