grateful

The other day I was thinking about how big Oaklen is getting. I have been putting him in his 3 month outfits lately because they seem to fit him a little better. So I got to thinking that maybe I should see which of his younger outfits still fit him and which don't, and put the smaller ones away in storage. That about did it for me. I got such a sad feeling knowing that he is too big for his newborn clothes. Since when did he become a "baby" and not a "newborn"? I felt like time was flying past me and I started to realize that maybe I wasn't living up to each moment, or that I was taking time for granted. I felt like I should be spending every waking minute watching, playing, or holding him, because next week he was going to be that much older. Especially seeing all these new babies being born around me, I couldn't help but think "Oaklen used to be that small", or "I wish I could go back to that night he was born". I was completely heartbroken that he was growing so fast, and I would never have those minutes back again.

But then I thought of how grateful I am to be able to put his newborn clothes away and get out his bigger ones, because he is a healthy boy. I am grateful that he is a "baby" and not a "newborn" anymore, because he is learning. I am grateful that I can think back about his birth, because he's alive. And suddenly, I felt so much better. Not only is being a mom the best job I could ever ask for, but being his mom means the world.

Crap. Literally.

This morning (again at 7...seeing a pattern?), Oaklen decided to have a big mess in his diaper. I wait a few minutes to make sure he's finished, even though it definately sounded like it. I put him on the changing pad, got him out of his pajamas, and in the midst of wiping his cute bum, he decides to shoot, I repeat, SHOOT poo all over!! He covered his pj's, the changing pad, the carpet and my leg. I called Straton to help me out because I was completely frozen in shock that he could even go that much, after already filling his diaper. Funny thing is I thought it was hilarious. Maybe his big smile right after contributes to me thinking it was so funny. Because the poo stain in my carpet surely isn't.

The greatest part about the whole thing - his bum was completely unscathed.  -???!!!!!-
So after the initial "holy crap"s and the "how in the world!"s, my next thought was "oh yeah, this is blog worthy."

And I completely fell in love with this boy all over again. =)

you decide.

Since Oaklen was born, all I've heard is that he looks like a Gerber. The only thing he inherited from me apparently is my brown hair and lips. But as he gets older, I've been hearing more people say he looks like me. I really can't tell yet. Sometimes I think he looks like me (like when he sleeps), but sometimes I think he looks like Straton. I don't have any of my baby pictures with me here in Logan, so once I get some it will be fun to compare.

So just for fun, I want to know what you all think. I know he still kinda has that "newborn look" and you really can't tell a whole lot, but it's fun to hear what others think. I'm hoping he gets a good mixture of the two of us. So go ahead and tell it how it really is. Is he a mini Straton? Is he as good lookin as his mama?! ;-)  Or was he incredibly blessed with both of our really, really ridiculously good looks?!

You all better say he looks just like me. =)  just kidding.........(but really.)

{This is the only picture I have of me at the moment, so look REAL close.}

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I had to throw this one on here because, yes, he looks exactly like his daddy. 

Seriously....

CUTEST THING EVER!

This is how Oaklen spent his afternoon

Meema was babysitting skyping with Oaklen while mommy got ready for the day. She did such a good job, she put him right to sleep! Thanks Meema!

For GiGi

He was a happy camper at the lake!

These smiles are for you GiGi!

For Meema and Meema Jan

He's getting ready for the beach!

{Don't you just love his little toes and sock lines?!}

This is how we spent our weekend.

We decided to spend the weekend at the cabin in Bear Lake because the weather has finally been so nice, and we sure did miss the cabin!! It was Oaklen's first vacation! He was a good baby the whole time too.

Although we kinda did our own thing half the time we were there (me doing a puzzle, Straton playing his computer game), it sure felt good to be alone with our family and having Straton all to myself. No phone calls, texts or real estate. Just our family.

Oaklen needed a little R&R too. He did this most of the time:

Thanks Pampers!

For the THIRD time in a row! AND at 7 in the morning.

This is how we spend our afternoons.

We've been taking advantage of this warm weather! Oaklen, Harley and I love our walks!

We're getting somewhere.

I've been reading Baby Wise (thank you D.I.), and its all about how to get your baby on a schedule and sleeping through the night. I've been trying their "program" and about two days into it, I already saw results. Seriously. This book may be my new best friend. Oaklen usually wakes up every 2 hours (sometimes earlier), and has some hard times getting to sleep, but since this book, he's been doing so much better! The second night he only woke up at 3 and 6 a.m. to eat and went right back to bed. It felt SO good to sleep that much!

I've also been feeding him every 2 1/2-3 hours which is so much better on me as well. What a difference an hour makes!! Now I feel like I can do things with my day and that I'm not constantly feeding him. I'm really hoping this new schedule is sticking and that we can get him sleeping through the night soon. We would all enjoy that. =)

Keep up the good work, buddy!

multiply & replenish

This last Saturday was the Gerber gals party at Straton's grandparents house. The girls had a fun get together, and the boys got to clean the yard. =) Pretty nice trade-off.
I was the last of seven girls to have a baby in his family. These are all the babies but one. And they are all about 2-3 months apart! Talk about a baby boom in the Gerber family. It's going to be so much fun when these kids get a little older and start playing together! Or it could be complete chaos with 7 two year olds running around...either way.

I'm hoping I get their age in order and their names spelled correctly.
Oldest to youngest: Olivia (not pictured), Lexie, Gavin (blue binkie), Wyatt (bottom right), Hunter (bottom left), Grayson (left car seat), and Oaklen!!

Family pictures

We spent Oaklen's first Easter with Straton's parents watching conference and eating yummy food, and took lots of family pictures. Here are just a few of my favorite.

Say Cheese!!

He has been smiling more and more everyday and I'm loving it! He would smile a lot in his sleep, and sometimes even laugh (which we heard him doing over the baby monitor last night. SO cute!). Then about 3 weeks old it seemed like he was starting to smile at people. Now he smiles at me after I feed him and I live for those moments! He has the cutest smile and I am pretty sure he has a tiny, tiny dimple that you can sometimes catch on his left cheek.

Grandma Gerber came to visit us today and he just smiled the whole time for her.

Can he get any cuter?!

This is how we spent our morning

And we both loved every minute of it. My arms are thankful.

Ready for snow

I had to take some pictures of Oaklen in his new hat from one of Straton's friends. I'm pretty sure he has inherited my large head gene, and this beanie is already tight on him. Good timing for a beanie though, considering we had a snow storm all day yesterday.

giveaway

 Had to enter this giveaway because who wouldn't want a free photo session?! Especially when it involves cute baby Oaklen. =)