Totally Adorable at 5 Months Old

....And we will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Family Values

Phil and I agree that the sweetest part of our day is going in Nolan's room and waking him up. It is just adorable to watch him stretch and stir as he awakens to a brand new day. From there, we get him ready and the last thing we do before leaving for the day is feed him and do our family devotion. Watching and listening to daddy lead us in a devotion and prayer adds so much umph to the day. Over the past several months we have established these 4 core values that we want to teach our children:

1. Attentiveness - Yes, paying attention. I, myself, struggle with attentiveness and have to work on it daily (just ask Phil). Attentiveness must be intentional and at the forefront of the mind. We want to teach our children to be actively involved and engaged in what they are doing and in their surroundings. Besides, how else are the other values and skills taught without first having attentivness?

2. Respect - Pretty simple, but consistency is the key. Old fashioned values are being established in the Heppding household.

3. Obedience - This goes hand in hand with respect. We hope this will be a reflection of their heart and will be a result of consistency and teaching on our part.

4. A teachable spirit - We are not seeking for our kids to just easily learn new things (though that would be nice). But we hope their attitudes will reflect a willingness, joy, and excitement in learning and discovery.

So, these are our family values. What we want to teach our children. And what's the best way to teach these? Yes, by modeling them. I best be getting to work. I certainly know I have room to grow in all of these areas.

Above all, we want to our home to be a place our children feel safe and loved. They will be loved uncondtionally and will never have to earn our love. We pray for Nolan (and our future children) daily. Our prayer is that he will come to know the unconditional love and forgiveness of our Heavenly Father and that Nolan will one day walk with Him in a personal relationship.

We start and end our day with prayer for our family and for Nolan specfically. There is no great privelege then to be able to pray for the child God has given us.

5 Months Old & Full of Life

We have had such a fun and exciting few weeks. February was full of lots of play dates and traveling to Atlanta. My friend and colleague, Casi, came over for Liam and Nolan to play together. Ok, if truth be told, Casi and I ate lunch and went shopping, and the boys tagged along. Liam is 2 months older than Nolan and we plan on getting them together quite often to play and become great buddies. The picture below shows them hanging out together. We also met some great neighbors, Ben and Dawn, who have a 6 month old son, Carter. Carter and Nolan have already played several times together, and Dawn and I are becoming fast friends.



We made a trip to Atlanta over President's Day weekend to see our close friends David & Jenny Fancher, who welcomed their son, Samuel David, in to the world on February 4th. Samuel was born a couple of weeks early and was a wee 5 pounds. He is just adorable and we can't wait for him and Nolan to start playing together. I'm sure they will have lots of fun times on the beach in the coming years. Nolan will grow up knowing that "cousin" Samuel is a very special and close friend.



Jenny and I spent the afternoon going to lunch and getting pedicures while Phil and David stayed back with the babies. We both enjoyed the girl time, free of parental responsibilities. Jenny is a very close friend of mine and it has been so fun to watch us both encounter major life milestones simultaneously. I know our sons will grow up knowing each other very well. We are thankful for such great friends.

We had our first Valentine's Day as a family of 3. We didn't do anything too exciting, but just having Nolan was enough to make this the most special Valentine's Day ever. He is our bundle of love.












Nolan is 5 months today. The time is just FLYING by!! He is such a wonderful, loving, and fun baby. Nolan, here is what you have been doing lately:

*Have just recently been introduced to sweet potatoes and like them a lot.
*Enjoy sitting in your high chair.
*Do not like your car seat.
*Rolling over to your side and staying there.
*Love to play airplane.
*Blow raspberries out of your mouth ALL day long.
*Like to walk around the block with mommy and daddy.
*Wearing 6-9 months clothes.
*Love to "stand" on daddy's legs.
*Started to laugh.
*Play with your toys.
*So ALERT that everyone comments on it.
*Do not love your passie. You'd rather sit up and look around or suck on your fingers.

I'm about to get a new camera. It took me having a child to realize that a digital camera just doesn't cut it. I can't capture those adorable facial expressions because my darn camera takes forever to reset and by the time it is ready, the expression is long gone. So, I've gotten several recommendations and I hope the Best Buy guy is ready for me because I'm about to go in and play with lots of cameras and find the right one that I can go click, click, click and get a gazillion pictures at a second. Hopefully, I will take my interest in picture taking to a higher level-to more than just turning the camera on and pushing the click button.

Believe it or not, Phil and I do have responsibilities and hobbies we are currently pursuing that don't involve Nolan. I know it is hard to believe, but it is true. We are both in a bible study at our new church called "Empowering Parenting." We are enjoying the curriculum and the new friendships that are being formed. We try to go out with friends or with each other at least twice a month, and having the best babysitters across the street makes it pretty easy. Phil is really a pro a networking and is seen all around town at different public events. He is growing his business and loving his new career. While I enjoy teaching, I really LOVE the tutoring I do everyday. I'm toying with getting back into running, but I'm not sure how passionate I want to be since we ARE trying to get pregnant again. I haven't found much time for scrapbooking, but Nolan's first year WILL be done by his first birthday. But what I enjoy most is entertaining. We haven't had too many people down to visit yet this year, but then again, the season is just now starting, so we can't wait to have people in and out of our house this year.

So, if you read the above paragraph, you read that we are trying to get pregnant again. Some people think we are crazy for wanting to add to our family so quickly and to take time to enjoy Nolan while he is young. Well, he is so amazingly wonderful that he adds to our desire. We also want to have our kids close in age in hopes they will be close friends. I realize the consequences that come with having children so close in age, but we truly hope and believe that God's will is to add to our family very soon. So, would you please join us in praying that God will bless our family with another child soon (and hopefully without the complications we experienced the first go round)?

Well, I'm off to go cuddle on my little Nolan. Can't wait to post pictures with my new camera soon!

Hurry Up and Slow Down!

I realize the title of this post is an oxymoron, but it is truly how I feel. I am always so excited when Nolan discovers something new-his thumbs, his hands, the ability to hold and grasp small objects-and I am always ready to see what he will do next. But at the same time, it is going by WAY too fast. I don't want him to grow up so fast that, in a blink of an eye, it is all over. The above picture of him is at 3 months. Like all moms, I think he is just the cutest thing ever.





Nolan can't get enough of his Bumbo chair. He loves to sit in it and watch Baby Einstein movies. And as you can tell from this picture, he can even fall asleep in it. But most of all, he loves to sit in it while we eat dinner at the dinner table. He will just laugh and talk to us while we eat. And it is obvious he is getting interested in food because he follows our forks and glasses as they go to our mouths. We have renamed his Bumbo chair his pooping chair. Without a doubt, 100% of the time, he takes a big poop in it. He is quickly outgrowing it as he is starting to use his weight to push himselp up and back. Before long, he'll be on the move and this chair will be a thing of the past.



Nolan absolutely LOVES his toy time. With our very busy schedules, Phil and I make the most of every moment in the evening. We spend our time eating, bathing, and playing "toy time." We get on the bed and play with all of Nolan's toys. He loves his Winkel and Baby Einstein music maker. He also really likes when I shake the rain stick. I think this is our favorite time with Nolan. He is so interactive with us and his toys and just smiles and drools the entire time.



Nolan got his first cold and fever right around 4 months old. He had a 102 temperature and a terrible case of coughing and sneezing. He was fever free within 24 hours, to which I think has a lot to do with nursing. Poor baby slept and slept and slept. He would wake up and eat enough to fall right back asleep. It was so sad to see him cough and sneeze so much, but I did enjoy all the extra snuggle time with him.



I can't believe Nolan is 4 months. So what exactly are you up to these days?
*You weigh 15.8 pounds (50%) and are 25 inches long.
*You love to suck your fingers and thumb (mostly your right).
*You are very close to rolling from your back to your stomach. You are halfway there.
*EVERYBODY comments on what a happy baby you are. You smile a lot.
*You want to be interacted with all the time.
*You are an excellent sleeper and now sleeping in your crib.
*Even when you are upset, you don't cry much.
*You EAT all the time. You want to nurse about every 2 hours, but somehow you don't wake up at night to eat.
*You are reaching out for objects.
*You went from hating your boucer to now enjoying it. You weigh enough to make it bounce yourself.
*You are showing interest in foods and it won't be long until mommy is making your foods.
*You are holding on to the side of your bottle, wanting to try to hold it yourself.
*You love raising your legs up in the air.
*You are holding your head up and almost able to sit up with little support.
*You still LOVE bathtime with daddy.
*You love toy time at night and want as much time with mommy and daddy as possible.

Nolan, you are a blessing in our lives and we thank God for you everyday. We love that you are such a happy, content, and loving baby.

The Joys of Life

Nolan has a wonderful first Christmas! We loaded up the car and drove up to Atlanta to see our family. Nolan got to meet his great Aunt Joyce, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Doug at a small family gathering. We also spent Chritmas Eve with the Avondale Purdy's where we enjoyed a yummy dinner and church at All Souls. We woke up early Christmas morning and drove to North Carolina to have Christmas dinner with the entire Heppding clan at Chris and Ally's house. It was especially exciting because Nolan got to meet Grannie, Papa, and all his aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was really fun watching Nolan and Ava meet for the first time-they were born exactly one month apart.



We spent Christmas and the days following in Sanford visiting with Fred, Gayle, the Virginia Heppdings, and Chris and Ally. Ava and Nolan did a lot of playing together while Heather and I chatted about motherhood. All the girls enjoyed lunch at Mrs. Lacy's. You would have thought we had ordered enough food to feed an army. But Gayle had 2 DIL's that were nursing and 1 DIL with a baby on the way. Needless to say, we were quite hungry. It was an especially memorable Christmas because it was Nolan's first white Christmas!

We didn't hesitate getting Nolan out in the snow. Of course we wanted to capture this since he probably won't see snow again for quite awhile. We enjoyed staying at the Hamton Inn while in North Carolina and Phil got some good practice driving in the snow go back and forth from the hotel to his parents house.

We drove back to Atlanta a few days after Christmas to celebrate with Ging and Pop. Nolan was beyond spoiled with lots of love, kisses, and presents. He has already gotten a lot of use out of his DVD player for the call and he got his first check for his college account. We always love going to Ging and Pop's house because they play with Nolan and take great care of him.




Without a doubt, this was the best Christmas I have ever had. It was so enjoyable watching Nolan meet new family and trying the figure out the craziness of unwrapping presents. Most of all, I can't wait for him to learn the true meaning of Christmas in the coming years. How wonderful that we can celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and remember all He has done for us.

Nolan is 8 weeks old today!

Nolan is 8 weeks old today. When he was born, he weighed 8 lb. 12 oz. He has been busy growing. As of today, he weighs 11 lb. 7 oz. He has grown so much and has learned to do so many things!! Here is a highlight of the past 8 weeks.

*Since 9 days old he has given us the best gift ever-sleeping straight through the night!
*Nolan is a HAPPY baby. He only cries when he is hungry, wants to be held, or needs his diaper changed.
*He loves to lay on his red pillow.
*Nolan loves to play with Madison and MacKenzie, our neighbors who watch him everyday while I tutor.
*In the past week, Nolan has started to hold his head up on our chests.
*He loves to eat every 2 hours, and is exclusively breastfed.
*Nolan loves his swing but isn't so fond of his floor mat (yet-we will break him in).
*Everyone comments on how ALERT he is. Nolan is always looking around.
*He loves the color red and loves to lay on our bed and look at the red curtains and red pictures.
*He is now giving social smiles. He smiles all the time.
*He loves to be kissed from his belly up to his mouth.
*Nolan loves to go anywhere in his car seat and stroller. He likes the rhythmic sound the tires make.
*He loves listening to music.
*Nolan has found his hands. Sometimes he hits himself and other times he is sticking his fist in his mouth (maybe mommy needs to feed him).

Well, my maternity leave is coming to an end this week. I'm very sad to go back to work-but I'm thankful for a great job and for a woman who is going to watch Nolan at her house. I am going to continue tutoring after school since my neighbors have agreed to keep watching him. It is great to be able to tutor from home with Nolan only a room away, and the girls are WONDERFUL with him.

Nolan and I have gotten out A LOT in the past 2 months. We got on a schedule quickly and I tried to get out of the house with him at least 3-4 times a week. We often went to see Mrs. Regina at the hospital, ran errands around town, saw daddy during lunch, or went to doctor appointments.



The weekends are always a lot of fun since daddy is home with us and we have college Game Day to look forward to. Phil is such a great father. He loves to interact with Nolan. He plays with him each evening after work and does "takes over" on the weekends. Phil can't wait to introduce Nolan to Duke basketball this year.



Madison and MacKenzie come over everyday to play with Nolan. We love our neighbors-the Prices. God bless Matthew-he has 4 girls and ALL female pets. The two oldest girls are in high school and do a great job watching Nolan. They are always playing with him, reading him stories, talking to him, and getting him to play with his floor mat and other toys. They do a great job with him and I love their company everyday!



We had a fun and exciting Thanksgiving. Our entire family (mom, dad, my brother's entire family, and Aunt Jill) came down to visit. One of the highlights of Nolan's life so far was seeing my brother's family meet Nolan for the first time. They went crazy when they met him and instantly fell in love. We spent Thanksgiving hanging out at the beach/condo, cooking & eating dinner at our house, watching Auburn beat 'Bama in the Iron Bowl, and enjoying each other's company. It was so fun to host Thanksgiving at my house for the first time.










We can't wait to celebrate Christmas with Nolan. We will spend a few days in Atlanta and then we will head to North Carolina where he will get to meet Grannie and Papa along with his cousins, aunts, and uncles. While he is still too young to absorb the fun and excitement, it IS his first Christmas and we will spoil him as much as possible....look for more pictures come January.

Our daily prayer for Nolan:

Dear Lord,
"Please help Nolan sleep through the night tonight. Please teach Nolan to grow to be a respectful and obedient young man of God. Please teach us to love YOU first and that mommy and daddy would have a loving and Godly marriage to model to Nolan. Please help Nolan to know he is loved unconditionally and that he would continue to be a healthy growing boy."

Welcome to the World, Nolan Douglass Heppding!!

It's amazing how life can change in a moments time. Writing this, exactly 2 weeks after Nolan's birth, I still can't believe that I'm a mom and that my son is HERE to stay-for as long as God will have him here on earth. Thank you Lord, for this precious miracle and gift from you.

I went to the hospital on Tuesday, October 5th to be induced. I started off with an IV of saline. The first hour was rather humorous as I went to the bathroom SEVEN times in 1 hour. I asked the nurse to show us how to unplug from the monitors so we wouldn't have to buzz her every 10 minutes. About 2 hours in, I received cytotek, which was supposed to help me dial ate. Only problem was, once I was given the cytotek I could not get up for a hour-so I used a bedpan in bed, for an hour-I drank too much water before going to the hospital, because they told me to come hydrated.

The night progressed with more movement, changing positions, sitting on an exercise ball, etc. As the night went on, my contractions got stronger and stronger but I wasn't dialating. By 4:00 a.m. I decided to get the epidural and I tried to sleep. By the time the sun came up my contractions were strong enough to give birth, but I never dialated past 3 1/2 centimeters. My doctor came and checked on my twice and when she came in the second time, I looked at her and said, "Oh no, Dr. Graham. My son isn't winning this battle. I will give birth vaginally." Well, those of you who know how I feel about my doctor won't be surprised at what she did next. See, I have complete trust in my doctor. When she is around, I know everything will be fine. What she did next is the only thing I clearly remember from the entire labor process.

When she came in to deliver the news about having a c-section, she knew I was going to be upset. Back in February, when she became my new doctor by default, I was very hesitant to switching to her, as she knew very little about my past history with infertility. After my first pre-natal appointment with Dr. Graham, I came to have complete faith and trust in her. So, I wrote her a quick letter tell her so. Since I had written that letter back in February, she has had it hanging on her refrigerator. She leaned down on my bed, grabbed my hands and head and told me this was the best thing for the baby and me. She then took out her phone and said, "I'm going to show you a picture, and I want you to pay attention to what it is. I was going to show you after you had Nolan, but I am going to show you now." I looked at it and it was a picture of the letter I had written her, hanging on her refrigerator. She told me, "I have had that letter there since you gave it to me. It is a constant reminder why I do what I do." Of course I started sobbing even more, but it was exactly what I needed from her at that moment. She held me and embraced me until I knew it was going to be ok. I cried some more and then asked her to get everyone out of the room.

Phil, Jenny, and I prayed together and then a total sense of peace came upon us. I was ready. I had gotten over my hopes of a natural birth, and was ready to meet Nolan via c-section. I was wheeled off into the operating room and was attacked by what seemed like a flock of birds. There were 10 people doing 10 different things on me at once. One even commented that it may have seemed like chaos, but that they were all working together to get him out quickly. They prepped me, and then sent Phil in. From the time Phil stepped into the O.R. to the time Nolan was out was an amazing 4 minutes. To distract me and in my state of delirium, I started talking about college football with the doctors. I also started talking about everything I wanted to eat and drink-from mango margaritas to cheeseburgers. They were all laughing. Then, the most amazing thing happened. Nolan came out of me, full of life and ready to go. I DID give birth, maybe not how I imagined, but this is how I met my son, and for that I am thankful.

Nolan was born at 12:42 p.m. on October 6th. He weighed 8lb. 14 oz. (a big boy!), and was 21 3/4 inches long. How he fit in my tummy is beyond me. One of God's miracles. I immediately went into recovery for over an hour, breast fed immediately (with help of the most wonderful lactation consultant, Regina), and then went to my post-partum room-which I never left for over 48 hours. Those 48 hours are a bit of a blur. All I knew was that our son was here, safe and sound, and that everything was going to be ok. Mine and Phil's prayers had been answered. Ging and Pop (my mom and dad) came down for Nolan's birth, along with my wonderful friend, Jenny (who has taken all the wonderful pictures of Nolan's birth). It was great to have them here to share in this joy. We had lots of visitors come by, the nurses were phenomenal, the hospital food was excellent (yes, really it was), and the post-partum room, minus the hospital bed, felt like a hotel room.



Then reality hit. Phil and I were sent home. No more nurses button. No more help on demand. No more meals being delivered to us. No more middle of the night nurses watching Nolan while Phil and I slept for a couple of hours. Taking Nolan home was a very surreal experience. I remember walking in the door on Friday, October 8th, at about 1:00 p.m., and asking myself "now what?" Phil and I showed Nolan around the house, showed him his bassinet, and then fell asleep with him on the couch.

I said we had not more on demand help. But my mom has graciously been here for 3 weeks helping out with Nolan. And I said no more meals being delivered to us. Well, our friends from Sunday School have lavished us with homemade meals. I haven't cooked since we've been home, and we still have meals coming. And not having anyone watch Nolan? Well, for the first week we were home, Ging stayed up with Nolan from 9 p.m.-12:00 a.m. so that Phil and I could have 3 hours alone together. To say that Phil, Nolan, and I have been spoiled with love is an understatement. I have a new appreciation for my mom and this has been an amazing bonding experience for my mom and me. I'm going to be sad when she leaves. She has been a huge help and I have a new understanding and appreciation our relationship.

The first week Nolan was home I was scared-scared to hold him, scared I would do something to "hurt" him, scared he wouldn't be breathing in his bassinet, scared he wouldn't ever sleep in his bassinet, scared I was never going to get sleep again, scared breastfeeding wouldn't work, and scared I was going to meet his needs. Wow, what a difference 1 1/2 weeks can make. Nolan is feeding great, sleeping very well through the night (knock on wood this continues), Phil and I are getting uninterrupted sleep, and Phil, the baby whisperer, has gotten Nolan to love his bassinet. What a great learning experience this first couple of weeks has been. I'm so thankful to be able to take a couple of months off of work and just enjoy my son.









I love feeding him and holding him when I am done. I love watching him soothe himself in his swing or bouncer. I love when others hold him. I love how ALERT he is and how he will just stare at me. I love when he hears my voice he will find my face. I love watching daddy hold him. I know I love him because his shitty diapers don't even bother me. I love being able to talk to him and explain what we are doing. I love reading him books, and I love when the three of us crawl into bed together.

Phil is amazing with Nolan. He is very intuitive to his needs and is not afraid of a newborn. Phil is great about changing diapers, swaddling, and watching him so I can get out of the house. He doesn't even call me with questions when he is home alone with him. It is easy to tell that Phil was meant to be a husband and daddy. He is great at both of them.

I've cried a lot over the past 2 weeks due to fear, frustration, joy, and total awe of Nolan. People keep reminding me to enjoy every moment because it goes by way too fast. I'm so thankful when people remind me of that. It reminds me to sit and just watch, hold, and enjoy Nolan. To just "be" with him.

I am amazed and beyond thankful for this gift God has given us. I am also so thankful for all of the help, support, and love we have gotten from friends and family. We certainly could not have done this without everyone's support.

I'm praying motherhood will soften me and make me more patient. I should be careful what I pray for, but I really think it will.

Now we're a family of 3. I can't believe it. Two friends shared this verse with me when we were battling infertility, and whenever I look at Nolan I think about this verse:

1 Samuel 1:27-28 - I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him over to the Lord for his whole life.

Our prayer is that Nolan would know the unconditional love of his heavenly Father.