Baylor's Room

Almost 10 years ago, I painted this room.  Tim was in China to work for a few weeks, and I was home, pregnant, and determined to have this sweet gingham room for the new little life that was going to arrive in a few months.  I taped and painted... and taped and painted some more while I dreamed about being a mother, dreamed of who I would all bring home to live in this room, and dreamed about all that was ahead of me in the days to come. 

All four of my children have or will spend their first couple of years in this room.  It looks the same as it did nine years ago when my little Liam lived here.  Name above the crib... picture collage above the changing table, rocker, book shelf, baskets... the room in itself has stayed the same as my little ones have come and then moved out.  I've only changed the colors to go with each of them. 

For Liam it was a sprinkling of light blue, yellow, and green gingham with blue and yellow stars here and there.

For Ainsley it was pink gingham accents , with a splash of colored polka-dots.

For Kallan I switched to darker blue accents to go with the green.

And for this little boy, I reused all of Kallan's things, but added more accents and patterns of yellow and green and blues.  I must say, when it all came together, my heart just smiled.  I absolutely love this room!  And that's a good thing, because I have and will spend lots of time in this room... rocking, feeding, and loving this little Baylor boy that God has blessed my life with! 



 

The collage always has had the meaning of my child's name as well as all their birth stats.

The verses on either side has changed with each baby. They have been verses or songs that were really meaningful during my pregnancy as I awaited the little one to come.

 

For Baylor, the verse comes from some of the words Mary said after the angel told her she was going to have God's son and she visited her cousin, Elizabeth.  With Baylor being born so close to Christmas, I was reading over these verses before he was born and this one just blessed my heart.

"My soul glorifies the Lord... for God has done great things for me."

The other is a song a friend sent to me that spoke life to me and brought hope during this pregnancy.

I wanted to remember that time... and the feelings involved as well as the words that talk about

our lives being in His hands, how we are never without hope,

 and how His love truly does do amazing things!

This mobile (along with Baylor's name above his crib) is my all time favorite thing in the room.  I got the idea from a friend of a friend's blog that I read... and I knew it would be perfect for this room.  And it is... It truly ties everything together, and I can't say enough how much I love it in this room.  I find myself watching it as I put Baylor to sleep... and Baylor loves to look at it too!

 So sweet... so peaceful... so perfect for my little boy!

I love this room...

June

Remembering things in June that made my heart smile...

When Ainsley wanted to play beauty salon and needed a customer...

this one couldn't say 'no' and ended up with spiked hair!

 

Her love for swimming, summer, and art...

The play dough pizza he made and being thankful

as his mama that's he's not too old for play dough.

 

For awhile he couldn't do a big smile without the help of his tongue!

Seriously...

 

His love for his toes!

 

My Kallan's obsession with maps, the states and capitals,

and all things geography these days.

 

Him... all. day. long.

 

Silly dress up time and summer fun with friends.

 

His love for tummy time.

 

Oh, my heart!

 

Snuggles with Sis.  She loves this little man fiercely!

 

Sharing my birthday with Father's Day...

Mama got the first part of the day and Daddy got the 2nd part.

Oh how I love this crew!

 

The Exersaucer has become the new favorite toy

for this little guy and his mama!

 

He outgrew his baby bath tub and had to graduate to the big tub.

Hard for this mama... but he loved it!

 

Liam and Ainsley each placed first in their age division

for a one mile run they entered.  We were so excited and proud for them.

(and had NO idea they could run that well!)

Their prize were new sleeping bags...

which turned into a camping night in the basement to celebrate.

 

Heart smiles... every time.

Baseball 2014

 Baseball - 2014

 Liam and the game ball...

He was thrilled!

Position - Right Field, and a few times pitching and playing at one of the bases

Game Ball - for the hit he had that game

End of the season team award - Best Listener

Family Time

We were able to spend a weekend with Tim's family this summer where almost everyone in the family was in town together.  As all the cousins have gotten older, this doesn't happen very often.

I tried to capture some special family moments...

 

Baylor and his Great Grandma V!  Every moment with this lady is special. 

She is always a joy to be around and her sweet and quiet spirit is always so inviting!

Grandma V and Baylor are 2 days short of being 101 years apart... so I treasure every

picture I can get of them together.  And she just had the best time holding him that afternoon!

This is Baylor and his second cousin, Joshua.  They were born 2 days apart... which makes it just extra special to see them together, especially when the next closest cousin is 2 years older than them. Joshua has a little extra chub on Baylor, but Baylor won in the hair department!

 

Ainsley and Gretchen... I caught them sitting up in the swing set enjoying their dessert together and just chatting away.  All of the first cousins on Tim's side live close together... and even go to the same school.  So it is special for me to see them get to spend time together and enjoy each other. 

This was all the Hodges cousins together for the first time in almost three years.

A special moment for sure!

All at 5 months

They're all ours!!!

And I sure do love them!!

Baylor - 5 Months

I thought I really enjoyed you being 4 months old... but I think 5 months is now one of my favorite months!!!  (And I will probably say that about next month too!)

Oh how I love you, and you are growing up so fast!!!! 

This is YOU... at 5 months!

Weight: 18 pounds     Height: 26.5 inches

You eat 4-5 oz. ever 3-4 hours

You sill spit up all the time… and it is a lot… all the time.

Because of this, you wear a bib and I wear a burp cloth all the time.

You still love to have your hand up on your bottle or by your face when you eat

You are wearing size 2 diapers and size 3-6 month clothes... and a handful of 9 month clothes

You are napping about 3-4 times a day… you are awake for about 2 hours and then go down.

I’m still swaddling you to go to sleep.

You are my hardest baby to put down for a nap, and you usually scream for awhile while I hold or   bounce or rock you.  *sigh*

You want to suck your thumb or a paci… but you can’t figure either one out… or you just aren’t 100% sure of either one. 

You are sleeping well at night… going down around 8:30/9:00 and waking up around 3 or 4 AM to eat… then sleeping until 6 or 7. 

Once in awhile you surprise us and sleep until 5:30 or 6!  We'll count that as sleeping through the night!

You are now sleeping in your crib upstairs… bye-bye cradle… so sad!

You love your toes, and they are in your mouth whenever you can reach them

You love to have your hands in your mouth or by your mouth

You love being outside and it makes you happy

We got out the exersaucer and it has become one of your favorite places to play!

You are kind of over the swing, but enjoy the kick gym and just playing on the floor.

You also love to just sit on the couch and play with toys

You are a rock star at rolling from your back to your tummy… and would rather roll to your tummy than lay on your back.

You are getting really good at holding on to toys and “playing” with them
You love to suck on your bottom lip.  It's Liam's favorite face you make!

You went to camp with mama and you were such a good baby!

You have taken your last bath in our baby bath tub, and have now moved to the big bath tub… another sad moment for mama.
You prefer to grab toys with your left hand… hhhhmmmm????
You are my Ergo baby… you really enjoy hanging out in the Ergo
You also love to be held!

You are a happy baby who pretty much goes with the flow
At the same time, you also have a little temper and will let me know when you are not happy with what is going on with you.
You have also learned to arch your back when you are mad…. Silly boy!
You also kick your legs, and you have the LOUDEST "mad scream" of all my babies! Woah!

You love your brothers and sister and they are great at entertaining you and making you laugh

You don’t really have any nick names, but Ainsley is constantly singing “Baaaaylor…” to the tune of “Day-O… me say Day-O!”  I just keep smiling!

Your hair is getting longer and it doesn’t stick up as much anymore… but your cowlick still makes it look like it is “styled” all the time!

 

You fit so perfect in my arms and my heart is aching for you to stay little for just a bit longer.  I can seriously feel my love for you grow each day!

You are growing up so fast, and as much as I enjoy seeing you do new things and blossom as a little guy…I desperately want my baby to stay for as long as possible.

Because of this… I usually put my hand on top of your head at least once a day and tell you not to grow anymore!

Baylor, I love you more than my words can say!  You are beyond a blessing to me sweet boy! 

May Moments

Spring came!

 Enjoying a fun baby gift from Auntie Em...

it made diaper changing lots of fun!

 Baking with my girl.

 My Special "K"

 Building Structures with math blocks

 Going to see "Ramona" at the Children's Theater

to celebrate the end of school.

 

 Playing wore him out.

 Mother's Day storms left our playground damaged.

 The blessing of coming around the corner to find her reading.

There are few things that melt my heart more than than finding your

child just picking up a book and reading on their own for the first time.

 A new toy!

 I love seeing his creative side!

 We had 5 caterpillars that we watched turn into butterflies.

One of the coolest things ever!

It was fun to watch them fly off into the sky!

 My cool dude!

 Watching them bake together...

makes a mama's heart smile!