ONE

Well I can't believe it.  Stanley Pierce turned a year old yesterday.  The reason I can't believe it is because everyone would tell me when he was born and still in that "tiny, fragile, infant stage" that it was all going to go by so fast and I totally didn't believe them.  In the moment, the infant stage seemed like it lasted forever but unfortunately they were right.  I felt like I blinked and here he is turning a year old.

As I reflect back over Stan's first year of life,  I have to say that it has been a huge blessing!  Sure there were a few bumps in the proverbial road like pyloric stenosis or torticollis but once we got through those, I have to say, it has been pretty smooth sailing.  Besides "blessing," another word I would use to describe Stan is "easy."  I think the Lord knew just what this uptight, control-freak, borderline OCD Momma needed when He gave me Stan.  I can't tell you how many times through the course of this past year I uttered the phrase, "Yes, he is a VERY easy baby.  So much so that I am scared to have another one!"  And it is SO true!  Preston and I have to get payback some how right?  Either our next one is going to be horrible or Stan is going to give us a run for our money during his teenage years!

But back to being easy.  At each new turn or transition, in true form, I would fret over every detail.  I would read books, articles or threads online, and call my mother or sister thousands of times.  How do I drop a dreamfeed?  How do I wean him from a swaddle?  How do we start baby food?  How much should he be eating?  How do I fly on a plane with a baby...by myself?  How do we transition to just two naps a day?  How do we transition from a 3 hour schedule to a 4 hour schedule?  How do I start a sippy cup?  How do I get him to actually eat his food instead of throwing it?  How do we drop a bedtime bottle?  Fret, fret, fret...worry, worry, worry.  And what would Stanley Pierce do?  He would go through each transition like it was NOTHING!  It was almost as if he were saying, "Simmer down lady....I got this!"

So here are some transitions and some things that Stan is up to these days.  We went to his one year check up and he weighs 28 lbs. 10 oz. in the 95th percentile and I don't remember his length or head circumference but they were both in the 75th percentile.  The doctor said that he is a bit heavy for his height but that was no shocker....my aching back could've told you that!  He isn't walking or even really pulling up on his own yet and I'm sure a lot of that has to do with his weight.  But he is crawling.  He does this little one-armed army crawl which is too stinkin' cute.  He knows how to crawl on all fours but he will only do that for short distances.  If he really wants to move somewhere he is on his belly doing his army crawl.  He has four teeth now...two on top and two bottom.  Right now he is a little snaggle-toothed because his top left tooth is pretty much all the way in but the right tooth is just peeking through.  He is on table foods and is making progress with the sippy cup.  We are still doing a bedtime bottle and are probably going to try to drop that sometime next week.  I'm not looking forward to that, mainly because I LOVE that sweet, cuddly time with him!

With that said, this year has also been a huge learning curve for both me and Preston.  But mainly me.  If there is one thing Stan has taught me it would be to let go a little and just go with the flow.  Not to say that I have mastered that by any means but because he is his this own little person there are a lot of things I don't have control over.  And from what I have heard, this lesson in "letting go" will continue as he grows.  It makes my heartache at this very moment to even think about the time I will physically have to let him go.  Geez...let's not talk about it.

Preston and I listen to The Zac Brown Band and every time I hear "Highway 20 Ride" I cry and Preston laughs at me for crying.  If you haven't heard the song I suggest you listen to it....it is very sweet.  And I know it's a little cheesy but I feel like he sums up parenthood very well in that song.  So even after just one small year of parenting, I can easily say to Stanley Pierce "it was the pleasure of my life and I cherish every time and my whole world, it begins and ends with you...."  I love you so much Stanley Pierce and Happy Birthday!

Starting Anew

Well it's a new year.  I like the start of a new year.  I know it drives some people crazy with all of the to do lists and resolutions that are guaranteed to fail but I like it.  I like the idea of a clean slate...starting anew.  In fact, "starting anew" is a perfect phrase to describe this phase in our lives.  Not only are we starting a new year but we are in a new town, new house and Preston has started a new job.  Ok, so technically we aren't in a new town.  We moved home to Tupelo.  And technically we aren't in a new house.  It was built in the 1930s but it is new to us.

With all of this renewing going on, I thought it was a perfect time to start fresh with the blog.  I originally started "The State We're In" to help keep our family and friends in Mississippi updated on our lives in Arizona.  I have never been the best blogger but after Stan was born, blogging fell VERY low on the totem pole.  I could never keep up with it and I fell behind.  Life got in the way... between having a baby, baby having surgery, voluntarily foreclosing on a home, moving into a rental home and then moving across the country...there was no time for blogging.  When we decided to move back home to Mississippi, Preston asked if I was going to try to blog.  I told him probably not because there was no reason for continuing the blog since we would be seeing our Mississippi friends and family all of the time now.  Plus I had this whole last blog post planned in my head that was cleverly titled "Saying Goodbye to the State We're In."  Poetic, right?  Preston reminded me that the roles have been reversed.  We now have "family" and friends in Arizona that sincerely care about our little family.  They want to see how Stan is doing and what me and Preston are up to....but mainly they just want to see how Stan is doing. ;)  So as you probably could've guessed one of my many resolutions is to be a better blogger.  Mainly for all of our Sahuarita, Tucson, Green Valley, Rio Rico and Nogales family and those that have moved away including our family in Idelstein, IL and Palm Harbor, FL....y'all will always be our Arizona family no matter where you live and we miss ALL of you more than words can explain!

2011 was a very exciting and hectic year for us but what a blessing it was.  The Lord has been very good to us and we are excited to see what He has planned for us in 2012!  Look for an update on Stanley Pierce soon...he has A LOT going on!  Happy New Year friends!

Baby Fix

I have a WHOLE lot of updating to do on the blog including 5 month pictures, a post about our three week trip home and 6 month pictures, just to name a few. But until I get around to getting the camera cord out of Preston's work bag, here is a little baby fix of random, cute pics from my phone.

I was going to get him up from a nap and he just looked so HUGE! Especially compared to the picture below.

This is normally how I find him in his crib in the mornings or after naps. Just doing a little light stretching.

Daddy says that all of his clothes say something about Mommy..."Bananas for Mommy" or "Wild about Mommy." But I found this bib in a storage bin so Daddy can't complain now!

Practicing.

This picture was just for Papa and Daddy too!

Stan started rolling from his back to his stomach right when we got home from MS...right at 6 months old. He has turned into quite the little rolly-polly and the next two pictures are normally how I find him when he is playing on his play mat.

That's all for now! Look for more updates soon!

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Reed and Jennifer

The weekend after we got back from Mississippi, Reed and Jennifer Hillen came to visit!  We had the best time hanging out with them.  We love these two SO much and we were so excited that Stan got to meet them!  Of course Jennifer "took" to Stan immediately but I have to say, I was pretty impressed with Reed!  He was a natural and I think that, when their time comes, they are going to AMAZING parents!

Lounging around

"The Natural"

Cute couple - at the overlook on the way up to Mount Lemmon

This was just too cute not to add!

BFFs! :)

Welcome to Mississippi Stan!

As I mentioned in the previous post, we took a trip to Mississippi back in May.  This trip contained many firsts for Stan:  first time to Mississippi, first time on an airplane, first time to meet MANY relatives including cousins, uncles, great grandmothers, etc.  We had such a wonderful time introducing Stan to "home."  We traveled SO much that we wore the sweet baby out!  At one point we were putting him in his car seat and really think he was looking at me like, "Seriously Mom....you're putting me in this thing AGAIN!"  He was trooper though...obviously, because he's the best baby in the whole wide world!! :)  Here are a few pictures from our travels:

First plane ride - He did SO well on all of the flights.  He did a get a little fussy on one of our plane rides back to AZ because his ears were bothering him but that only happened once!  Also, out of the four flights we were on, there and back, he pooped on three of them!  So I am a pro at changing poopy diapers in those tiny bathrooms!

Meeting cousins for the first time!  And no, this AWFUL car seat is not ours.  It was the car seat that the rental car company gave us and it SUCKED!

Stan LOVED Drew and I do believe the feeling was mutual!  Drew loved to play peek-a-boo with Stan.  Drew would actually scare Stan when they were playing and Stan would jump every time.  Drew thought this was HILARIOUS so the minute Drew started laughing Stan would start laughing too!  I also should mention that I think Stan has loved Drew even from the womb!  When we were home for Thanksgiving while I was pregnant Drew would sing to my pregnant belly and Stan would move and kick!  It was the CUTEST thing!

I think LC thought Stan was her live baby doll!  She wanted SO bad to swing him when he was in the swing.  She did very well with him and was very gentle.

We went to Drew's T-ball game.  Stan in the sling, sound asleep! 

We drove up to Oxford so Stan could meet Uncle Pierce for the first time!  He was a little unsure about holding a baby for the first time but he did GREAT!!  We are so proud of Uncle Pierce for graduating and finishing his college career on such a strong note!

"Wait...did he just puke on me?" :)

Meeting Mimi!  Stan is Mimi's seventh great grandchild!!  I think it is amazing that she has lived to meet seven great grandchildren!  What a legacy!

This picture was taken the morning after we arrived in Mississippi.  Poor baby was already so pooped from traveling that he feel asleep on my bed at my parent's house!

3 Months

So I am a month late in posting this but oh well....better late than never!  Stan's third month was a VERY busy one.  He visited good ole Mississippi for the first time and while we were there he got to meet A LOT of family (post to follow).  So of course there were a lot of firsts on that trip:  first time on a plane, first time to spend the  night at Lollie and Papa's, first time to meet lots of relatives, etc.  The following weekend after being at home, Stan got to meet Jennifer and Reed Hillen (post to follow).  He also went on his first picnic!

A few developmental firsts:  he found his hands and his feet, he holds his head up like a champ and he has been rolling over stomach to back for a while now.  Something I didn't mention in previous posts:  he has been sleeping through the night since he was about 8 weeks old!  We do a final feeding at about 10:00pm and he sleeping until about 7:00am!  We have definitely been blessed in that regard!

So what you really came for......pictures!

Happy 3 month old baby!!

These were too funny not to post - about to sneeze!

And sneeze!

Big boy sitting in his bumbo holding his head up

Loves bath time!

Clean, happy baby!

Sweet face

And another sweet face

Haaaaaaa!!!!  This picture makes me laugh out loud every time I look at it!

First picnic by the lake!

Just chillin' in the shade with my shades!

Easter 2011

Stan had a great first Easter!  Bebe and Ole Dad came to visit and we all had such a fun time.  Golf was played, eggs were dyed and brunch was had.  Thanks for coming to visit Bebe and Ole Dad!

Stan's Easter basket was a joint effort between Mom, Dad, Bebe and Ole Dad

Sweet baby boy with his Easter basket

Thanks for the Easter outfit Cousin Drew!

Hangin' out with Ole Dad before church

What a Difference a Month Can Make....

....along with having surgery!  Take a look at the difference!

2 Months

Stan turned two months old on Friday!  We went to our two month appointment and everything went VERY well.  He weighed 10 lbs. 2 oz. and was 23 inches long!  It was pretty funny to see his percentages....weight: 25%, head circumference: 25%, length: 50%!!  Already taking after his daddy!  Dr. M. was very please with his weight.  After the nurse took his weight, Dr. M. walked in and said, "Are you kidding me?!!"  And she gave me a high five!  She even asked the nurse if she was positive the weight was right! :)  He has definitely filled out a bit since his surgery....take a look:

He has also started smiling which just makes me melt!!

Another trait he has inherited from father....see how those pinky toes curl under his fourth toe....that is 100% his daddy!

 "Who gained 21 ounces in 9 days, now weighs 10 lbs. 2 oz., has recovered from pyloric stenosis like a champ and can give the thumbs up?.......

.....This guy."

1 Month

I took some 1 month pictures of Stan but in the hustle and bustle of his surgery I never got around to posting them.  So here they are!

It's interesting to look back at these photos post surgery.  We actually met with the surgeon two weeks after his surgery for a follow up.  At this appointment she told me that babies with pyloric stenosis usually always have a worried look on their faces!  I would say that is a worried look on his face...wouldn't you?!  If only we knew then what we know now!

Pyloric Something-Or-Other

Well to say that the past two months in the Whittington household has been a bit crazy would be a huge understatement.  We had a baby in February, baby had surgery mid March and we moved homes the weekend after baby's surgery!  Like I said....CRAZY!!

For those of you that don't know, Stan was diagnosed with pyloric stenosis.  Pyloric stenosis is the narrowing or tightening of the pylorus, which is the opening between the stomach and small intestine.  It is fairly common in first born males that are 5 to 6 weeks of age.  Symptoms are projectile vomiting, dehydration and weight loss.  All were true in Stan's case except by the time we caught it he hadn't actually lost weight, he just hadn't gained.

It all started on Friday morning.  He woke up drenched in vomit.....all down his back, covering his head....DRENCHED!  Poor baby!  I could tell it was projectile because the distance the vomit was from his body.  My first thought was that I just over fed him at his last feeding so I didn't think much about it.  Then it happened again the next morning.  Over the course of the week it happened a total of 5 times and the following Friday it happened again.  This time I was changing his diaper and noticed a small pink spot in the diaper.  I had no clue what that was and I was concerned that it was blood so I called his pediatrician.  They decided that since he was so young they wanted him to come in.  So we headed to doctor for our appointment at 1:00 but not before having a vomiting episode as I was putting him in his car seat!

After seeing the pediatrician, she decided that she wanted us to go to the hospital at 4:30 for an abdominal ultrasound so they could measure his pylorus.  Of course when she said "hospital" I immediately started freaking out.  I was so overwhelmed by the "h" word that when I called Preston to tell him I said, "The doctor wants to test him for pyloric something-or-other!" (I think by the third day in the whole process Preston and I finally nailed down what it was called!)  Preston decided to leave work, thank goodness, and he met us at the "h" word for the ultrasound.  After a long process of an ultrasound, another HUGE vomiting spell, talking to the radiologist, determining it was in fact pyloric stenosis and waiting to hear from the pediatricians office whether we needed to head to the ER or not, we finally got the call that the pediatrician had admitted us to the hospital and we had a room in the pediatric unit.

So with only the things that we had with us, we walked over to the pediatric ward and got in our room.  Then began the process of getting Stan hooked up to the monitors and getting an IV put in.  At this point, I need to emphasize the fact that it was about 6:30pm and he hadn't had anything to eat since 1:30pm and even then it was only about 1.5oz. and because of his condition and not knowing when he was going to have surgery, he couldn't have anything to eat.  So he didn't eat until 6:30pm on Saturday evening AFTER his surgery...that's over 24 hours without food! I know he had IV fluids but STILL....that was hard!  He was a trooper though!  He honestly did not fuss that much at all and he probably vomited more that Friday night than he had all week!

After waiting all night and wondering when he was going to actually have surgery, we finally heard that they had scheduled his surgery for around 11:00am Saturday morning.  Around 8:00am the surgeon came by and discussed that they were going to make a small incision above his belly button, go in and make small slit in the pylorus muscle to loosen it up and that the procedure would take about an hour.  So at about 10:30am they came and took us to the pre-op room.  This time was probably one of the hardest things Preston and I have had to go through.  Our tiny baby boy laying in this huge crib, hooked up to all of the monitors and then the surgical team wheeling him away!  There were tears shed from both of us as we kissed him and told him how much we loved him.  I'm about to cry just remembering it!

We headed to the surgery waiting room where we held hands and prayed together.  Shortly after the surgery began we were very blessed to have our pastor, Mark and good friend/youth leader, Sheri, come sit with us.  They were a much needed distraction and they helped the time go by.  Before we knew it, the surgeon came out and told us everything went well and that is was a very standard procedure.  We were SO thankful and couldn't wait to see our boy!

When we finally got to see him he was pretty fussy, which the anesthesiologist said could be a possibility.  When we got to the room I hopped in the bed, Preston handed him to me and I got him to calm down and go to sleep.  We stayed that way for about four hours!  I slept also but I was most content that I had my baby back in my arms!

The next few days were spent just seeing how much food he could handle.  He finally got to eat at around 6:30pm and we started with 30cc's (1 oz.) of Pedialyte and gradually moved to breast milk.  We got to 60cc's (2 oz.) of breast milk and he started throwing up again.  So we backed down to 45cc's and he was able to keep that down.  Monday morning the surgical team came in to see how he was doing and at that point he had kept everything down since about 6:30pm on Sunday.  The surgeon said I could nurse him at the next feeding at 9:30am and if he kept that down then we could go home Monday afternoon!  Music to my ears!  So like the champ that he is, he latched on like it was his job and he kept everything down!  So we headed home Monday afternoon!

That weekend was the craziest weekend of our lives!  We are so thankful for all of the doctors and nurses that not only took care of Stan but also helped these first-time parents survive the weekend!  A special thanks to the pediatrician we saw on Friday (our pediatrician didn't have any openings) who wanted to test immediately for pyloric stenosis.  Also a special thanks to our night nurse on Friday who found another bed for us so Preston and I could both spend the night at the hospital.  The nurses, ohhhh the nurses!  They were amazing!  They were so helpful!  From helping us change Stan's clothes every time he vomited to getting us little things like lotion!

I also have to say thank you to several of our friends.  George, Faye and Callum helped SO much...from  helping take care of Lottie to bringing us phone chargers Friday night so we could make calls to family to keep them posted on Stan.  Then there is Zak and Lisa and Cherry and Tim who brought us meals in the hospital.  Cherry also helped out with Lottie!  You all helped more than you know!

And of course I have to say thank you to Preston.  He was in full-time support mode the entire time while I was a freakin' basket case!  He slept on those crappy chair sleepers in the hospital while I slept in a bed.  He knew that I would've lost my mind if we both weren't able to sleep in the hospital.  He made several trips home (which is about 45 minutes one-way from the hospital) to take care of Lottie and to get our belongings for the weekend.  He brought food to the hospital for every meal so we wouldn't have to eat the crappy hospital food.  And most of all, he held my hand while I cried....which ended up being A LOT of hand-holding!

And thanks to all of our friends out there, near and far, who I know were praying for us!  The prayers were definitely felt.

We are glad that this is over with and that we are officially DONE with pyloric something-or-other!

From My Phone

Just thought I would share several pictures that I had on my phone. Enjoy!



Waiting for Stan



More waiting...


Cuddled up with Aunt Aimee


"That's some good eatin', Momma!"


Chillaxin'


First time in his crib....he fell right to sleep! Thanks Lollie for making his crib so comfy!


Hanging' out on his playmat



Taking a nap with Daddy
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