Hello Blog, we are 6 months young!

DISCLAIMER:  Here are a few disclaimers before I get started.  So I have had this "blog" since before Wells was born and I am just now publishing my first post.  I have written some posts along the way that are "in draft" and just need to have pictures added.   As I continue to put them off, the posts continue to grow.  So my first plan was to finish all posts then post everything at once and them be better about getting things up on time.  Well, that plan hasn't worked and seeing as the longer I wait the more I have to catch up on I just decided to bite the bullet and go ahead and start posting then back post as I finish the older posts.  This is really just for us to have to help us remember our little man as he grows and then to share with family and friends so what does it really matter, right?  I need to just keep telling myself that :)  Actually most of my friends are probably even shocked that something is going to even get posted on this blog so at least we are making a little progress.  All this blog stuff may seem simple to most and hopefully it will be that way to me in the near future.  But going through hundreds, no thousands of pictures of this little man and then figuring out how to correctly post everything is a huge challenge to a new blogger who is also a new mother.  It was one of the things that I could keep putting off so I did.  I finally gave myself a deadline, I had to get my first post up by the time he was 6 months old.  Although that day did come and go with no post, I am starting with his 6 month post so that counts for something, right?  Now, just the challenge of keeping current on this blog is a whole other subject but I don't want to overwhelm myself with to many commitments :)  I am just going to try my best cause I know I will never regret having all this to go back and look at when Wells has dyed his hair purple and he is wearing a dog coller (just kidding, well hopefully just kidding :)

6 MONTHS YOUNG!!!!

The little man is officially 1/2 year old.  It seems like he was just born but it also seems like he has always been here. Wells is so fun and full of personality.  He turned six months on January 19th and we had our 6 month check up today.  He is weighting in at a whopping 17.08 pounds and that puts him in the 50th percentile.  He has steadily stayed in the 50th percentile in both weight and height.  Our head is always a higher percentile :)

Here are a few little tid bits of info;

-He knows his name
-He is close to sitting up by himself. 
-He is getting closer and closer to crawling each day, which totally scares me!  He gets up on all fours and moves around a lot
-He can get where he wants to go
-He is starting to wave.  Although I don't think he has any idea what he is doing when he is making waving motions with his hands.
-He loves bath time.  This is usually a father & son bonding event
-He is obsessed with his dogs, especially Biscuit.  Boy do I feel so sorry for her when he starts crawling.  The first thing this boy does when we get home from somewhere or in the morning is look for the dogs.
-I would bet on him every time in a staring contest.  He is that good ;)
-He still goes to anyone very easily but he definetly knows who is momma is :) He has started to reach for me and want me when I am near. 
-No teeth yet but we are definetly teething and have been for a while
- He started mothers day our a few weeks ago.  I usually take him after his fist nap.  He usually rolls into MDO at about 11 then I pick him up at 2.  This gives me a few hours to get into trouble by myself but every week I cant wait to walk in to the room and pick that little boy up.  It is the best feeling!
- Unfortunately this boy is still obsessed with the TV.  I swear, I haven't been sitting him in front of the TV, he just finds it, where ever it is. 
- He loves being held.  I guess this isn't a problem since I love to hold him ;)
- He is so busy, that little head of his just whips back from side to side so fast so he can keep up with what is going on.  He is constantly looking for the next thing to grab, touch, pull, and eat. 

-He loves to be outside.  I can't wait until spring.  Wells is going to love spring and summer!

-He is very observant and loves to be around lots of people.  He watches things very closely and he is so inquisitive. He really is such a happy baby who freely gives smiles except when he is studying something which, he loves to do.  I am still having trouble getting him to smile for the camera.  I am constantly trying new tricks but I have yet to find a good one!

-This little boy craves structure and routines.  He is not a baby that can just nap "on the go".  His naps are almost like clock work.  He will be happy and having the best time, then all of the sudden, he is ready for a nap and it is in your best interest to put him down when he wants a nap :)

-Right now I am staying home with him.  I don't know what the future will bring as far as that goes but, for the near future I am going to spend my days watching him grow :) I feel very blessed to have this time with him.   Just like anything, some days are challenging but, life is challenging no matter what you do.  Everyone has daily challenges, it is just a part of the journey!

Eating;

He is taking about 22-28 ounces per day.  He is not as big of an eater as I thought he would be .  He is taking 5 bottles a day.  We are still doing a "dream feed" at 10 each night in which he barely wakes up.  I know he is capable of going without that feed but I am too much of a wuss to cut it out.  Actually, until he eats better during the day, I cant really cut that out cause that is one of his best feedings each day.  He doesn't eat well in the morning which totally doesn't make sense to me but that is how he rolls.  I figure he will be grown up before I know it and I will be wishing for that time at night with him again.  It really is such a sweet time to be with him but truth be told, Chris does most of the 10pm feedings.

He has had peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, and bananas.  We have been doing bananas with rice cereal in the morning and rice cereal and veggies at night.  We are getting ready to try some other new fruits and veggies.  He isn't as crazy about any of his food just yet but hopefully that will change.  He has always loved rice cereal but he makes the most awful faces when you give him anything else.

Sleeping;

He goes to bed at about 7:30 each night and he puts himself to sleep every easily  (dream feed at 10) and he is sleeping good (most of the time) until 6:00 each morning.  We have had our sleep struggles but we seem to be on a good path.

He still takes 3 naps a day.  He really needs those three naps so we will continue with that that until he is ready to cut out that last nap.  We have done baby wise since we was about three weeks and he is defiantly ready to nap after being up for 2-2.5 hours.  Baby wise has worked great for getting Wells on a good schedule. 

We do have a slight addiction to his swing,  He still naps in his swing and he refuses to nap consistently in his crib.  I am currently working on a plan to change that but every time I decide I am not going to take no for an answer, when it comes to napping in the crib I always leave his room with my tail between my legs and Wells is happily in his swing,  It is the strangest thing cause he has slept in his crib since he was three weeks old just fine but the napping is a whole different animal.  He might take one nap really well in his crib and I think I am getting somewhere but when the next nap comes along, he goes ballistic when I try to make him nap in there again.  My mom has been reading online and apparently we aren't the only ones with this issue.  All in all it isn't that big of an issue but, I don't know of any adult swings to sleep in so we need to get this straightened out.

He is still so funny when you wake him up, you have to be very careful to give him his "time" to wake up before you can talk really cheery to him or be real loud.  I tell him he is like his aunt Rosalynn and grumpy if you wake him up.  If he wakes up on his own, he is all smiles but when I wake him up, I do it real quietly so I don't upset the beast :) 

This little boy is so so sweet! He watches everything I do and he gives me the biggest smile anytime I look at him.   I love the way this little boy holds me, smiles at me, reaches for me, crawls all over me. I love him more each and everyday and I am so thankful that God chose me to be this boys momma!!!  We just love this little boy to pieces.

Here are a few more recent pics; Enjoy!

Avery Flynn Thompson

We were so excited to finally meet little Miss Avery Flynn.  I feel like we have been waiting on her arrival for soo long!  Avery's momma and I grew up together and have been friends for longer than I can remember.  From going to white water with Jessie and Kylie in elementry school to high school cheerleading to trecking around Europe together in college, we have a ton of fun memories together.  Thankfully Chris and Tyler hit it off when they met, you would think they have known each other as long as Jessie and I .  We have had a lot of fun with the Thompson's since we moved back and I can't wait for all the fun to continue with Avery and Wells.  

Jessie made child birth look easy and little miss arrived safe and sound.  She is just beautiful!!!!
 (I can't belive I didn't get any pics of the proud dad!)

Lights on the Square

We took Wells to see the Lights of the Ozarks in Fayetteville.  I hadn't been to see them in a really long time so I was really glad we went.  Wells had a great time people watching.  Rosalynn, Rebecca and Josh met us on the square then we all went to dinner after the lights.  We won't be missing them from here on out, this will be a fun tradition for us to do every year.

Halloween

Well, we survived our first Halloween.  Barely, but we did survive :)
All the thanks go to my wonderful mother, Gigi.  All I had to do was show her a picture of what I wanted Wells to be for Halloween and she started to work on making it without me even asking.  I think she knows it would have never gotten done if she would have left me to do it:) 

Oh and I didn't mention that all this was done at lighting speed since I just told her a few days before Halloween what I wanted?    Mom is so busy with school and her recent conferences so I know this wasn't easy for her.  We even managed to squeeze in a fitting during the making of the costume.  We really really appreciate all that she does for us.  The list would go on for days on what she has done for us since Wells was born and we cant thank her enough for everything.  She is the best!

Now, on to the costume.  It is a complete understatement to say that Wells did not like his costume.  He HATED every single minute of having it on (all 15 of them).  I have never seen a breakdown of this magnitude from him.  He won, and the costume was off right after pictures.  We did not even leave the house.   Thank God my mom came over to help dress him cause there was no way we would have made it to her house as previously planned.  We had big plans to go over to the Jones for Halloween and we had to abort the plans after the breakdown.  I actually started to feel really bad cause he was so upset.  After we took the costume off, we were going to go over to the Jones for a second minus the costume but he was still so upset and he was completely exhausted  that we decided that it was best for us to stay home. 

Surprisingly there are some pictures of him not crying.  I was kind-of shocked when I went through the pictures cause I felt like he was crying the entire time he had it on.  I have to say, even after the breakdown, I still think he was the cutest rooster I have ever seen!

                                                          This is what we saw most of the night!

                                                             The designer, dad,  and her muse.

Trying to console the Rooster.

We pulled it together for one semi decent family pic

The only way to calm a very angry rooster!

Poor Baby, I really do feel bad for him at this point

In other big news;
Wells rolled over for the first time on Sunday (10/30/11).  Chris had gotten up with Wells when he woke at 6:30 and I stayed in bed.  Chris was playing with him and then he rolled over.  Chris said that he was so shocked that he put in right back up on his stomach to see if it was just a fluke or if in face he did roll over and he did it again so he yelled for me and thankfully Wells performed for his momma and I got to see him roll over :)