Oh wow, Cason, mama sure has slacked with this, but I do need a new hobby so maybe I will pick this back up.

But, for right now, I will keep it short. You are 2 years, 6 months, and 11 days old. You are obsessed with all things Marvel comics, especially Hulk and Captain America. You have a sense of humor that any adult can envy.

I'm not trying to sound cheesy but you literally can light up any room that you walk into. Whether its with your smile & dimples, with what you say or how you act, all eyes end up on you.

I will forever be proud of you, son.

I love you to the moon and back,
Mama

Boy, oh boy...

Wow, time sure does fly when you are having fun! Cason, you are now 9 months, 1 week, and 6 days old and you had your 9 month wellness visit today! You weigh in at a whopping 26 pounds 9 ounces and you are 30 1/4 inches tall! You, my son, are off of the charts! I need to cut your formula back a little and increase solids, but it's kind of hard to keep a set schedule, I was doing good before vacation! haha. By the way, we just got back from Tennessee last week, you had a great time! You started waking up during the night about 2 weeks ago & sometimes you would stay up for 3 hours! But, as of now that has seemed to stop! You are so funny now, you crack everyone up, even random people in stores, especially because you are such a "people watcher" and like to just stare at people. :) You are definitely starting to find your voice too & testing boundaries with loudness & pitch. Breastfeeding has now come to an end, and honestly I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I know my supply was starting to go down because I was supplementing more and then we went down to just morning nursing sessions and now those have pretty much stopped. It somewhat makes me sad because I miss those bonding moments where you would fall asleep nursing, but you haven't done that in quite some time, so it was a slow weaning process and you still fall asleep in my arms every night that I don't work so I think that has helped me handle it better too. I'm happy we made it 9 months! Well, keep growing strong, Cason, you will be a year old before we know it!

love you to the moon & back,
Mama <3

Dear Cason,

You are 7 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days old. And you are officially a crawler! You haven't mastered the speed quite yet, but boy, you are getting there! You rarely army crawl now, if you do it's usually because you're reaching for a toy. You are pulling up on everything that you can now, so much so that we had to lower your crib mattress already! Your cousin Willson is in the hospital right now. :( He has a virus that wasn't responding to the antibiotic shots, a fever, dehydration, and a double ear infection. I feel so bad for him and your aunt & uncle. I'm very thankful that you have been so healthy! Oh! You are also getting pretty good at feeding yourself, we practice with Puffs a lot! I'm so proud of you, Cason!

Love you to the moon & back,

Mama

Dear Cason,

You never cease to amaze me. Your daddy & I agreed that today you officially crawled for the first time at 7 months, 1 week, and 2 days old. :) You have been able to lay flat on your belly and move backwards and in circles for some time but and you have been getting up on your hands and knees and rocking back and forth but today, TODAY you decided to stay on your hands and knees a move forward some! Then you would get on your belly and do a little army crawl, but you were still moving forward! So proud of you, baby boy! In time you will be flying from room to room! :)

Love you to the moon and back,
Mama

Dear Cason,

A tragedy happened yesterday in Oklahoma. A tornado ripped through a town, flattening an elementary school. There were 51 lives lost, 20 of them were children. I, like everyone else am horrified and saddened by this news, as well with any other tragedies, especially those involving children. But now that I am your mother the emotions that I feel are intensified, I can now put myself in those other mothers' shoes, I have the same thing that they have, a precious child that could be taken away way too soon. I can't imagine what those parents are going through, nor do I ever wish to experience something so horrific. Just know, sweet Cason, I will do everything in my power to protect you and the rest will be up to God, for He knows the plan he has for you.

Love you to the moon and back,
Mama

Back Story, pregnancy, labor & delivery.

Oh where to even begin...John and I got married July 16, 2011. We had wanted to wait 2 or 3 years before we had a baby but God had other plans. We thought it would take a while for me to get pregnant because it had taken both of our mothers years to get pregnant, well we were wrong. 

I found out I was pregnant February 2, 2012. I was 11 days late so we kind of knew but were still surprised to have our thoughts confirmed. I got a doctor's appointment the very next day to confirm the pregnancy, that day, February 3rd started our short journey to becoming parents. I'll keep the pregnancy details short by saying this, I had an amazing pregnancy, I honestly couldn't have asked for a better one and I thank God for that. I started having shooting hip pains the last month of it, but I have hip problems naturally. I never had morning sickness and I only gained 31 pounds. I was 159 pounds when I got pregnant, 190 when I gave birth & I am currently 133. :) My due date was originally October 1, 2012 but then it was moved to October 8, 2012.

I also had a really good labor & delivery. I was a week overdue so I had a doctor's appointment for a non-stress test the morning of October 15th around 11 am. Everything went well and I was having "moderate" contractions 3 to 4 minutes apart but I couldn't feel them. We set an induction date for October 18th. I went about my day as normal, hung out with my mom, ate dinner with John at home and went to bed around 10:30. I woke up around 12:30 having a few cramps and needing to pee as I was in the bathroom I noticed the cramps were coming in waves so I knew it was the beginning of something. I went downstairs to lay on the couch because I didn't want to wake John. I labored downstairs for about 2 hours before I decided to wake John up and to finish packing my bag. At that point he called the hospital and informed them I had been laboring for about 2 hours and my contractions were 2 to 3 minutes apart and they told him to get me there as soon as he could, we live literally 3 minutes away. We left the house a few minutes after 3 am. I got checked into the hospital probably around 3:20 am and my water broke at 3:38. I was about 3 cm dilated and 85% effaced at my first check. I got my epidural pretty quickly and they started me on pitocin to make my contractions stronger. Everything was going well and then probably around 1 I spiked a fever of 101.6, I felt miserable, once it was under control I started feeling better. I started pushing at 2:50pm and Cason Alexander Wood was born at 4:27 pm on October 16, 2012, he weighed 9 lbs 6 oz and was 22 inches long. At that very moment my life changed forever and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I don't know how well I will keep up with this blog, but I will definitely try. This blog will be about the challenges and rewards of motherhood and I also plan to write some "letters" to Cason to show him when he is older. :) I hope you enjoy it!

-Sarah