O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

Wal-mart has come through for me the second year in a row! Last year I had a preemie size jack-o-lantern onesie for Magdalena, and this year Walt got his Halloween costume from there! It was a great buy for $8!! He was the perfect little monkey! I think the trick is to look for deals before I absolutely need to have them and before everyone else is looking for them, so I get the treat of having something cute for cheap (a little joke). I think that we found both at some point in August both years. Walt wasn't quite sure what to think about himself being a monkey, but he was very laid back, especially when he realized that there was candy involved. We began the night by trick-or-treating at Mimi and Papa's house. Then, we went to our church's festival. Although Walt was too young to play any of the games, it was fun to walk to each of the sections to see how creative people in the church got to be and how hard they worked to make this special for the kids. Noah and...

The day before I was going into the hospital to have Walter, Loli and Uncle Stephen came over to give Walt his congratulations-for-being-born outfit, which I will show in another post. It was a little onesie that said "baby brother". Lori is always very thoughtful with her gifts, and she gives me things that I didn't even know that I wanted! This little onesie was so special to me because I wanted to include Magdalena in the celebration just as other parents include their children in the festivities. The problem that I faced was that I didn't want Walt to be living in Magdalena's shadow and to take the attention away from him. Even as I make his scrapbook, I don't write all of the feelings that I had while pregnant with him because I never want him to feel like I didn't love him as much. Before having Walt, Noah and I discussed a lot about what we would say on Walt's announcement because we were torn with how to word a lot of what had to be said....

Yesterday Walt took his first field trip, and we went to one of my favorite places, Barnes and Noble. Of course, he really missed the trip because he was asleep the entire time! Magdalena would have been so proud to see that her stroller was shared with him. I think that he enjoyed riding around in the stroller while Noah and I enjoyed a cup of coffee and browsed the store. It is always so sweet to see Noah and Walter having some good bonding time. Here they are having a deep discussion about something important. This outfit is what makes me call Walt my little man. He wore this to go to the doctor's office on Tuesday. He wanted to make a good impression! This is one of my favorite things that he wears! Here Walter is getting ready to go to Barnes and Noble. He was so pumped about getting to go somewhere, but while in the car he fell asleep. Here he is while playing with Mommy. Dr. B confirmed that these are true smiles and not gas smiles that he is g...

Last night Noah and I try to come up with a game plan to tackle this morning. The first time getting ready with a baby always takes longer, and Walt did wonderful. He gave me time to eat breakfast before he wanted his breakfast, and then, he took a little nap while I got myself ready. We were actually five minutes early for our appointment! Walt weighs a dab more than 8 pounds and 4 ounces but not yet 8 pounds 5 ounces. Dr. B said that his weight gain was good, especially since he is a breastfeeding baby! Yay, Walt! He was so sweet as the doctor looked him over, and he even gave her a few of his sweet smiles, which impressed Dr. Brooks! We continued our day with a few more outings. I needed a few things for my little man at Target, so Noah and Walt sat at the Starbucks inside the store while I got what we needed. It was my first outing in the last two weeks, so it was fun to walk around a bit by myself but know that Walt is in walking distance from me at all times.

Every baby is different, but what I had been told did not prepare me for how Walt responded to us and this world. He came into this world as a laid back little baby ready to lift his head and eat! He only cries when he is hungry or naked. He does not like either of the two. Noah and I have been blessed with a sweet little baby. I know that this could end at some point, and Walt will become a little more "demanding", but we are really getting to enjoy him so much right now while we are learning how to care for a baby. Magdalena required a special, different kind of care, so having a newborn made me nervous, but Walt has been hanging in there with us. The other day I just stared at him while I held him. It was hard to take my eyes off such a beautiful creature, and I knew that I had been given much more than I deserve. It is embarrassing to say that towards the end of my pregnancy I had begun to really regret being pregnant. I was miserable, uncomfortable, and full of...

It has been an amazing week with little Walt! Julie and I are so excited to have him home with us and to see his sweet little personality come out in so many wonderful ways. He is very laid-back and doesn't cry all that much, but when he does he wants to be sure that you hear him. He has been keeping us entertained with his cute little faces and movements and we are having so much fun loving him and taking care of him. He has adjusted to life at home very well and we are so blessed to have him. As many of you know, there are many emotions that are tied to Walt's arrival in our world. We are so overjoyed to finally be able to meet him and be so in love with him, but there is still the sadness of our loss of Magdalena. There have been a lot of reminders of her in all of this and we miss her terribly. At the same time, we want to be able to fully celebrate Walt and show him that he is loved immensely. He will one day know all about his big sister, but for now he is the star of the...