video | crew's birth day

I finally finished compiling the videos from the day Crew was born! He was so tiny! I can't believe this was 6 weeks ago!

a cloth diapering day

Last week we decided to try out our cloth diapers. They are all just sitting in a drawer and are so much cuter than disposables. Before Crew was born we weren't sure at what age we were going to start cloth diapering, but knew it wouldn't be right away. I wanted to go ahead and give it a try and see how they fit on him. We actually didn't even use them all day; we just used the one and decided to wait maybe a few more months until he's bigger. The diaper worked great...no leaking or blowouts thank goodness. Our only issue was that the diaper went down to his knees (as you can see below) and just looked too big on him still. But I will admit, he is a total cutie pie in a cloth diaper!

This particular diaper is Rumparooz, but it's the only one of that brand that we have. The plaid was too cute to pass up!

We have mainly bumGenius and Lovely Pocket diapers with the one Rumparooz and one Charlie Banana.

We are really looking forward to cloth diapering. I know some (most) people think it's gross, but it really isn't bad at all. The cloth will be so much softer on his little bum...and more fashionable!

What have your experiences with cloth diapering been?

a week of firsts

This post has been sitting as a draft for a few weeks now. I just wanted to share some big "firsts" for us and for Crew in his second week of life!

His first "real" bath after his cord fell off - He loved it! The only part he wasn't a fan of was being laid down directly onto his little bathtub (the blue part). It's rubber and COLD. And pouring warm water over it doesn't help warm it up at all. Poor baby let out the saddest shriek before we put the towel under him!

Crew had his first bottle on his two week birthday. I know Will was excited to finally be able to feed him. (And I was excited for a little break because I was still so sore!) He took it like a champ! We use the Tommy Tippee bottles and have had no problem going from breastfeeding to bottle. I've given him the bottle one time and it didn't seem to confuse him at all. Little man likes to eat! We also gave him a pacifier during this week. At first he gagged from it being in his mouth, but after a few tries he got the hang of it. We are using the Avent Soothies. Even at almost five weeks old now, he still sometimes acts like he's never had a paci when we put it in his mouth. He makes some of the funniest faces! I just recently ordered a Natursutten (Butterfly Orthodontic) pacifier to see if he likes that one any better.

kermit the frog

We loved dressing up Crew for his first Halloween. I had been thinking about what costume for him to wear since before he was born, but didn't actually decide until about a week before Halloween. We went with a DIY costume...much better than spending $30 on something he'd wear once!

Materials: onesie, Rit dye, felt, pom pom balls, knit hat, something for leg warmers (or pants)

I mixed some Rit dye together (Kelly Green & Yellow) for the onesie. It was hard to get the color I wanted with a little trial and error, but it turned out ok! I also dyed some (adult size) tube socks to cut and use for his leg warmers, but they didn't hold the color for some reason. I ended up dying another onesie and cutting the sleeves off for "leg warmers." It was the best I could do last minute! I had also bought a pack of knit hats off of Amazon so I could dye the white one, but it also came with a lime green hat so we just used that instead. I hot glued the green pom poms to the top of his hat for the eyes and then drew eyes on white fabric to glue onto the pom poms. With the felt I cut out the Kermit collar and also little froggy hands and feet that were glued to his sleeves and socks. It turned out so cute and we had the cutest Kermie ever!

I'm probably going to hear about it for posting this pic, but I had to! We went to Trunk or Treat where my dad's work had a Duck Dynasty booth. Crew didn't recognize Lolly & Poppy!

A few days before Halloween we took Crew to a pumpkin patch for a few photos...

 Such a different Halloween from last year, but it was so much better! When we dressed up as the Sundrop couple last year, I would have never imagined that we would have a four week old a year later!

crew | one month

Another week has flown by. This week, Crew discovered how to smile. Up until now, he'd really only smiled when he was asleep and dreaming. We love just talking to him and watching him grin. He has the cutest smile and dimples! He's also found his voice and enjoys talking and cooing at us.

His eyebrows are so expressive!

Crew's first concert at 3 weeks, 1 day

Matching vests with Poppy

Will & I went out for our first date without Crew. It was hard leaving him! He stayed at my parents while we went to Texas Roadhouse and to see the movie Gravity (which we loved). We talked about Crew the entire time though and were anxious to get back to him!

Crew's first road trip was to Hardy, AR. This is where we always go camping every Fall and Spring. While we couldn't camp, it's a close enough drive to go for the day. Crew did so great in the car and slept the entire way there and back. We went antique shopping and Will did some fishing. It was my first time to wear my Moby wrap with Crew and we both loved it. It did feel like I was pregnant again carrying such a big baby (hello, back pain!), but it was much more convenient than pushing a stroller through cramped antique shops. It also kept us both pretty warm! Can't wait to wear him again!

Crew still loves being swaddled and held close. He likes sleeping on his daddy's chest, riding in the car, being outside and bath time. He doesn't like having his clothes changed or being strapped into his car seat!

Yesterday we celebrated several things. It was Crew's one month birthday. The past month has flown by. Our lives were changed for the better on October 3rd and we still look at Crew in complete awe that he is our son. I may be a little biased, but he is just the most handsome, sweet baby there is! It was also Crew's first day at church. I held him the entire time and he just snoozed in my arms. He did so good! There were several times I teared up during worship thinking about how just a few months ago I stood there pregnant and imagining holding our son in my arms. God has been so good in blessing our family with this precious baby.

Our church celebrated its 10 year anniversary yesterday as well as the grand opening of our new building and permanent church home. After meeting in homes, a school and a hotel the past 10 years, our church now has a home base for ministry within the city. This building has been prayed for and prayed over for years and it was amazing to see those prayers answered. The recurring theme for the morning at church was "God is faithful" and He is. Over and over again.

Crew is one month old. God is faithful.
We are free to raise our son loving God. God is faithful.
ICC celebrated 10 years serving downtown Memphis. God is faithful.
We were blessed with an amazing building to call our permanent church home.  God is faithful.

My matching boys. I love them so much it hurts.

We are so looking forward to many more months to come with our sweet boy!