Cute Faces

So, now that Houston is getting a little older, he's keeping me very entertained with all of his new facial expressions.... here is just a bit of the cute-ness I get to hang-out with all day long...

1st Legit Tummy Time....

 

 

I see this face a lot-- this is when he's looking at you very intently trying to figure things out.

(Look at those chubby little hands!!)

Also, please note the difference in his face between last week (above) and this week. He's changing SO fast!

I love his new skills and personality, but I can't believe how FAST this is going!!

He is starting to smile more and more... I'm always too slow to catch the FULL smile, but here's the tail end of one hiding behind a paci. He was doing tummy time and I noticed the back of his hair was kind of tangly, so I grabbed our little brush and was going to brush the back of his head while I could. Evidently it tickled (or maybe he just liked the feeling) but he was grinning from ear to ear! Everytime I'd do a swipe with the brush he would smile!

Today, Matt called to check-in. Houston was playing on his play mat and all of a sudden broke out into the BIGGEST smile and actually GIGGLED! It was absolutely THE cutest thing I've ever seen. I think he's cute no matter what he's doing, but to see a big grin on his face with those dimples and to hear his little voice giggle- my heart absolutely melted!

Most of the time this kid LOVES his paci... sometimes, though, he decides he does not want it. And, when you try to give it to him and he is uninterested, you will see this face...

 Houston's new hobby is fan watching. He gets very still and will lay there for a LONG time just watching. It's funny when he picks up these new things because he will get still all of a sudden, and I have to figure out what he's doing! Keeping Mama on her toes already!

Mimi came to babysit this while I went to get a haircut.

 I thought he looked cute dangling here so I had to get a pic :)

We broke out his play matt with toys that dangle for him to punch and kick. It also has a mirror that straps to one of the bars overhead. This was the first time we were playing with it and he caught himself in the mirror. He got SO still and just looked at himself for the LONGEST time!

 

 I think he must be thinking,

"Hey, who is that good lookin' baby!"

 And, lastly, we took our first trip to Publix today to grab a few things! I've been without him since he's been born, but this was our first time together. I think he really liked checking everything & everybody out... and I made sure to do the self-checkout because I didn't want anybody touching him! ha!

More Firsts & A Few Cute Pics

Houston is officially a month old. I didn't get my act together in time to get a cute chalkboard or month by month onesies... but here is his "official" one month picture. He was too busy looking out the window to look at me, but I think he looks adorable here! Some iron-on month by month onesies have been ordered off Etsy, so stay tuned for the month #2 pic!

 Cute duck baby after a bath. I just love to snuggle him after he's just been bathed, he smells SO good! Plus, he's super cute in his ducky towel!

My cute side-kick before we left for Hobby Lobby to get some fall-ish stuff for our house! I'm not sure if his eyes will stay blue or not, but I think he looks adorable here with those blue eyes in that blue outfit!  Matt picked out the paci, can you tell?

This was my view for the majority of the trip... such a sweet boy!

Houston had his first restaurant experience on Friday night! We went to a Mexican place called Garcias. If he is going to be his mother's child he will need to learn to love Mexican food of all kinds, so I figured better to start him early! As soon as our food arrived, he started to get restless so of COURSE MiMi offered to hold and bounce him while we all ate!

She wasn't really concerned with the food left on her plate. The pic is a little bit blurry from the bouncing!:)

 After we finished eating, we still had a few minutes to kill before the next feeding, so we stopped in to Home Depot!

Helping Dad pick out some Weed & Feed... then we picked out a big, medium, and small pumpkin for the porch :)

Visitors

We've had lots of fun visitors over the past few weeks... I haven't remembered to take pictures of all of them, but here are some...

Kristen & McClain

 Andrea

 Some of my Samford Friends came into town for Lauren & Bryan's wedding so they came to hang out and eat dinner on the Thursday before the wedding! Which one will be next on the baby train? Never can tell! ha! :)

(Lane, Christin, Andrea & Nicki)

Matt's cousin Katie and her 3 sweet girls were driving through town on the way home from vacation so they stopped in-- this is Katie's oldest Aubrey holding Houston! They need to come visit every day! Right after they left, the dogs fell asleep AND Houston had a great night with a 5.5 hour stretch of sleep- woohoo!

 Matt's Parents came for another visit.. this is the only picture we took! They'll be back next weekend with Matt's sister, Sarah & Drew. Hopefully I'll remember to take more pictures then!

First Month Memories...

Family Neighborhood Walks

We've been dealing with a reflux issue... so for several days, I saw a lot of this 1st picture... lots of tears and sad faces (for both me AND Houston!!) But, now that we are on some good medicine, I'm seeing a lot more of the second picture (Hallelujah!!)

 He's officially on our insurance and his birth certificate and Social Security Card are in- he's a legit citizen! Please excuse my disheveled hair. It's basically been in a ponytail for a month- I just realized how long it's gotten and we are taking care of this little issue next Wednesday! :)

 We haven't gone TOO many places this month, but I have to smile every time I see him in his little mirror- he's just so darn cute!

 This was Matt feeding him his 1st bottle on week 3

The weekend after Houston was born, my dad participated in the World Championship Olympic Distance Triathalon in Las Vegas... we had to do a comparison with Papa's medal to remember how tiny he is!!

Adorable yawn!

 He's watched a few Tennesee games at Mimi & Papa's house (well, we watched, Houston mostly dozed)

1st Bath! A little skeptical at first, but he warmed up to it

Other than that, we've just been working on some Chub. He was born at 7 lbs, 13 oz and at our latest check-up for the reflux issue, he was 9 lbs, 10 oz!  Our 2 month appointment is on Halloween so we will check in again then!

"1sts in the 1st Week"

So, I've taken an unbelivable amount of pictures over the past month, so I will spare you looking through all of them and just hit some highlights. Here are some of the "Firsts" of  Houstons 1st week of life....

Matt changes his 1st diaper ever

Matt's parents meet their 1st grandchild!

 Houston's 1st look at Mimi

 His 1st chat with Papa

 1st Family Photo

 1st Car Ride

 Sadie is the 1st cousin to meet Houston

Houston coming home for the 1st time

Watching his 1st Clemson game with Daddy

1st Doctor's Appointment

 1st Paci

 So, it's been almost a year since my last blog! We've had some huge changes since my last post so, here is my attempt at catching up for the sake of our family memories since I know I will never be crafty enough to create a legit scrapbook of all our memories...

Houston Edward Moore came into the world on September 5, 2012! He has been such a joy and a blessing to us over the past month and here is a brief summary of how he came into the world... (and by brief, I mean I'm about to write a novel so bear with me because I know if I don't write it down, I will eventually forget!)

At my 35 week appointment, I found out that I had started dilating and was told he could come "any minute" and that they'd like me to take it easy and see if I could make it to 37 weeks. My doctor also told me not to go more than 30 minutes away from the hospital because she could tell his delivery was going to be quick! Talk about making a preggo paranoid.... well, that "any minute" turned into over 2 weeks at 5cm!  Once I was past 36 weeks, I decided it was time to get this show on the road... I basically tried every wives' tale of how to get labor going (except for caster oil) but no luck! The Monday before I was 38 weeks, we took a walk around the block... we had done this several times in the past week and it had been no big deal but this time was different. I started having really bad back pain... I kept saying "I'm not sure I'm going to make it home!" ... so, I slowly waddled home and plopped in the recliner.  The back pain continued for another 48 hours and it was NOT pleasant.  Nothing like contractions, just constant lower back pain and I couldn't get comfortable no matter what position I was sitting/standing/laying in.  Wednesday night, we were eating dinner while watching TV.  After I ate I made myself a semi-comfortable spot laying on the couch.  A few minutes later a BAD storm started that knocked out our satellite. Shortly after, I yelled "MY WATER JUST BROKE!!"  (So, if you're wondering, there IS truth to the barometric pressure stuff... the nurses said they have 1-2 deliveries a night and this night they had 6) This was a little after 7:15pm on 9/5/12. At this point contractions started pretty much immediately and they were 4 minutes apart. Luckily we had our bags mostly packed-- we just threw toiletries in and headed to the hospital.

Once we got to the ER, it was SO crowded!! While I was waiting to be admitted, I had to wait for someone to get up to go to the bathroom before I could have a seat (you'd think that a very large preggo person in the ER huffing and puffing through contractions MIGHT warrant someone offering their seat, but that was not happening! So, I stole a seat as soon as someone got up!) The guy called us up to the desk for us to fill out the admittance paperwork... the man behind the desk was just chatting it up with Matt about how this was our first baby, etc. I'm not sure if I said anything or not, but I remember being VERY agitated at the man behind the desk because contractions were fast and painful and he was just chatting it up without a care in the world! I think I nudged Matt and gave him a look to say "CUT IT OUT!" ha!  As they wheeled me upstairs, the contractions were 2 minutes apart. As soon as we got off the elevator, the first face I see is my doctor!! I thought she was on vacation, but it turns out that she was leaving the NEXT morning and was on call that night... such an answer to prayer!

They put me in the bed and started hooking me up to the monitors, IVs, etc. The girl came to get my bloodwork and they realized the chatty man behind the desk forgot to give me my hospital band! So, a nurse ran downstairs to grab it.... My doctor checks me at this point and I'm about 7 cm. I ask about my epidural and they point to the bag of fluid hooked up to my IV and they say I have to get 1 bag of fluid in before they could give me the epidural So, at that point, I'm STARING at the bag of fluid hoping it would drain quickly so I could get relief from this pain!!  During this process, they are having me initial and sign all kind of admittance paperwork. The contractions were SO bad at that point that everything was kind of fuzzy, I was basically scribbling my name with a shaky hand during contractions. I remember wanting a hair tie to pull my hair back, but I was in too much pain to ask Matt to search my purse. Basically, this whole time, Matt and I didn't speak, I was just squeezing my eyes shut and breathing hard everytime a contraction hit. We weren't timing them anymore, but I could tell they were picking up because basically I didn't have a break between them at all. Just one after another... after another... after another!! So, the bag of fluid is empty and my doctor comes to check me again... she looked up and her eyes were kind of big and she said "You're complete... 10 cm!" So, at that point, it pretty much dawned on my that this epidural was not happening. But, there was a TINY glimmer of hope... I remember saying "So... what does that mean about my epidural?" Then, I was informed the anethesiologist was in an Emergency C-section so I'd have to wait for them to be available and THEN wait for the epidural to kick in. Dr. Rupe asked if I wanted to try to wait or if I wanted to go ahead. I asked, "So.... the pain I'm feeling... is it going to get much worse? Or, are we about as bad as it gets?" My doctor said I was already feeling the worst of it and except for crowning this was as bad as it gets. At this point, waiting for another long period of time with these TERRIBLE contractions did not seem like an option. So, I think I said something to the effect of "Let's just do this."  I don't think I even looked at Matt the whole time and we definitely weren't talking much-- I was thinking if I looked at him I might be more afraid because he would be able to tell I was scared so I just watched the room suddenly get VERY busy with them preparing the baby bed, my bed, etc.  Fifteen minutes of pushing later and perfect little Houston was laid on my chest at 9:24 pm (yes, just 2 hours earlier, I was laying on the couch at home!) I thought I would cry in this moment, but I think everything was such a whirlwind (we hadn't even been in the hospital room for more than an 1.5.hours or so).. I just said "Oh my gosh!! Oh my gosh!!!" I still don't think it had fully hit me that I was even in the hospital about to have a baby and then all of a sudden he's here so FAST! He was perfect- 7 lbs 13oz, 21 inches long! Just a few minutes in, I realized he had dimples and that just made him even more adorable to me! SUCH a whirlwind, but I know I wouldn't have been able to do it without Matt by my side.  Even though we weren't talking much it was so reassuring to know he was there and keeping track of everything the nurses were doing since I was so out of it!  After I was holding Houston, the nurses were able to finish "formally" admitting me... I finished up answering the rest of their questions about medical and family history while holding my sweet little bundle! And, I finally found the hair tie and was able to pull back my hair. Hooray!

Here are a few of my favorite pics from that night....

New (& some old) Loves

SO much has happened since my last post! First, we found that 'Baby G' is a sweet girl! She will be Sadie Caroline Gorin and we can't wait to meet her! Here's what she looks like now:

Also, sweet little Bella started to crawl! She and Whit came for a visit for a few days, she's such a big girl! Poor dad just can't get a boy in the family to save his life. Girls, girls, and more girls!!

Matt and I are full-swing into our new jobs! Matt traveled a good bit while he was training (Oklahoma, Ohio, GA, Florida and probably every inch of every highway in Tennessee). Now that he's finished training, he'll be gone less, but maybe gone a few days a week every other week. It's not TOO bad & I'm getting used to him being gone some and its definitely an improvement over the 1st month of his job! I have been L-O-V-I-N-G my job! More to come on that later, but it has been awesome so far. I love what I do and I love the people and couldn't be more blessed!! And, Matt and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on January 17th! So many changes, challenges and blessings we've had in the past 2 years, but I wouldn't trade any of it! I love him so much and can't wait to see where the Lord takes us in the coming years!! Here's the last pic we got at the Greenville house...

So, I love my lists. For this posts, some things I've learned to love in Nashville:

SWANKY'S! This one is right by my parent's house- it's the best Tex-Mex kind of Mexican. Add a little spicy ranch and roasted corn to your burrito and it's delish. They also have really good cheese dip which is a must for any Mexican restaurant I am addicted too.

IPAD. I'm not the "tech geek" kind... but I got this from my AWESOME employer as a Christmas gift. (did I mention I love my job??) So, I have found all kinds of interesting apps to mess aroung with! One of my favorites I think will be the Betty Crocker cookbook (haven't used it yet, but I plan to! Did I mention it was free??) And, a really addicting Jewel game.. it's already the bane of Matt's existance because once I start playing I have to finish and beat my last high score. HA. I'm sure I have a lot to learn, but I love it so far. The Pandora App is also very handy for some good music when getting ready for the day!

DEALS. Maybe it's hanging with the Dave Ramsey crowd, but I have been getting some great deals recently.... today we picked up a FREE entertainment center from a guy I work with who can't use it anymore. And, we bought a nice fridge from a family who is moving... $500 for a fridge they paid $1699 for. Can't get any better than that! And, the best deal of all, is our new HOUSE!!! We still have to do the appraisal and home inspection, but the possibility is that we are getting a great deal on an awesome house in a neighborhood we love. It's about 10-15 minutes from my parents and about 10 minutes to work. LOVE it. More to come if everything goes smoothly!

DEVO. Something awesome that is a perk of working for Dave, is that every Wednesday morning, we have a company wide devotion where different speakers will come and talk to us. My dad actually spoke a few weeks ago (the 1st Wednesday in January) on goals and setting them. It was really great! This past Wednesday Dr. Emerson Eggrichs spoke to us. He's the author of the Love and Respect Book. He was talking about conflict in marriage and how men and women communicate. He's a really funny guy and we were all laughing SO SO hard because everything he said was so true. I think we have all had the EXACT conversations with our spouses that he was talking about! Anyways, I haven't read his book yet, but I plan to do it soon because his talk was REALLY insightful. I can already tell it's going to be an interesting read and I can't wait! Here's the book:

SELF DISCOVERY: Our Team as work read StrengthsFinder 2.0. It's a book about focusing on your strengths in life... and with the book, you get an access code to take a personality test. I've taken similar things that are supposed to tell me what my strengths are, but it always seems to be vague or inconclusive! This one is SO in depth. It gives you an 18-page print-out on what your 5 top strengths are, and then give you information on each one telling you how that trait is manifested in you specifically. I've learned a lot about myself by reading what they said my strengths are. Some of the things they pointed out, I didn't even realize I did. Or, I realize I did it but didn't understand where that personality trait came from. It is really interesting. We have meetings on Friday afternoon and everybody reads 1 of their strengths aloud. I'm going to buy the book for Matt so I can see what it says about him... understanding the reasons behind why people do things is so interesting to me!! And, it's also interesting because you can have the same strength as someone else, but the information they give on why you do things and how the trait is manifested in your personality will be completely different and unique to you. If you're trying to find what kind of path to take in life/job this wold really be helpful. As well as, I think in understanding yourself and your family members! It is awesome. :)