Baby Sullivan | Week Fifty Two, 1 year old!!!

Folks, we have made it. Sullivan James Hollen is officially one year old. Technically he's now 369 days old but we aren't focusing on technicalities. I was hoping to ring in this one year post with pictures from his birthday bash but unfortunately that won't be happening quite yet....

Marin picked out these birthday toys for Sullivan. 

Most of last week over his birthday the kiddos and myself were are very much under the weather. The sickness presented itself last friday and has stuck around in one form or another until today. We are still coughing a bit and our noses are still red and running. Being sick over your birthday pretty much is the worst. Being sick and having to take care of two sick kids is also pretty much the worst. But, we are slowly on the mend and have rescheduled his big birthday bash to next week. I know he probably won't remember the fact that we celebrated his big day ten days after the fact. Oh well...

He is one. He is one! Our little man, our last baby, our wonderful son is one years old now and every time I look at him lately he seems to be turning into a little boy right before my eyes. Everyday he gets longer and his pants get a little more snug. Everyday he starts babbling different sounds and little almost words. Everyday he gets a little bit more excited about food and shakes his little fists in the air in pure excitement because just loves to eat that much. Everyday he inches closer and closer to getting mobile and I'm just praying that it's sooner rather than later. He is stronger everyday. 

It's hard to believe that a year ago today we were just bringing him home from the hospital. The new baby smell and sleepless nights have slowly worn away and now I welcome any little cuddles that I may get from him because he wants to be doing something at all times and is fascinated so much by the world around him. 

Sullivan made me a boy mom and I'm sure we have many years ahead of us of peeing all over the toilet and around it, fart noises, and rough housing. Maybe he will want to play sports and pick up the guitar. Maybe he will love to read or just prefer to be outside in the mud. Maybe he will love music as much as we do, maybe not. Whatever he goes after in this life there's one thing I know for sure, I will forever be his mama and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

He's growing up so quickly and that does make me sad but at the same time I am loving seeing him grow up into the little boy that he will be. I'm thankful that we are getting past the little baby stage and into the little boy stage. This is when it starts getting really fun. We are finding our groove as a family and it's only going to get better. 

Happy Birthday, a few days late, Sullivan James Hollen. You were made to be a part of our little family and we cannot imagine living life without you! 

Here's Marin at Fifty Two Weeks! 

And for good measure...he's Sully's birth story. 

Baby Sullivan | Week Fifty One

We have one more week of posts before Sullivan is a one year old! Technically, in two days, he will be one and I still can't believe it. I say that every time, in every post. But, it's true! Where did this year go? Please tell me. My baby is becoming a little boy ever so quickly. He will be a little toddler before we know it. 

Since we got back from Montrose, life has been pretty much nonstop. I played keyboards at church the day after we got back and ran without practice. Monday was spent trying to get our house in some sort of order: scrubbing the tub and toilet, doing loads and loads of laundry, and mopping the floors. I worked my normal three days this week and try to cram in as much as I can in those three days. I led worship for prayer, solo on an acoustic, on Wednesday. It's been a while since I've done that and it wiped me out. Thursday night I had worship practice for Sunday. Friday night was pretty much the only evening Ryan and I were able to have some time to just be with each other. 

I don't like those days when I go to the office, leaving at 7am after kissing my sweet family good bye while they eat their waffles and bananas at the breakfast table. I then work my hardest all day at the office, consumed with quickbooks and billing. Then there are the evenings where I get to run home real quick, grab a bite to eat, kiss those babies again, and then run off of to church for one thing or another. The nights that I don't get to help with baths and tuck in the little ones are not my favorite. Somedays I only see our children for a half hour. I am not okay with that and would like to not have many of those days. 

Sullivan is still not crawling. He will be one on Tuesday. In my mom brain I'm trying to not freak out entirely about that and know that he will in due time. But, it's so hard to wonder about the whens and what ifs. That is not a good rabbit trail for my brain to go down. That's really the only milestone that he isn't fully hitting yet and I'm ready for it. I was ready for it months ago. 

This weekend was a rough one. Marin started to feel under the weather on Friday. Running nose, cough, feeling icky. Then around 1:00am Saturday morning, Sullivan woke crying and was burning up. We haven't had to deal with a lot of fevers with our babies and this one was not fun. Just today, I feel like it finally broke and he is slowly becoming himself more. Of course, all of this happens when our pediatrician is not open. Luckily, we have a support system around us to come help me out when I am exhausted and can't get Sully to cool down. We have taken a lot of sponge baths and he has hung out in his diaper only for the past two days. It's always horrible to watch your child hurt and you can only do so many things. His body was obviously fighting off something and the fever is part of that. I even ended up staying home from church this morning and I was supposed to help lead worship. My kids come first over all of that and I'm glad we have all gotten to rest today. I feel a sore throat creeping in in my throat and I need it to go away like yesterday. 

This coming week should be a good one as long as everyone is healthy. I'm only working Monday and Tuesday. After that, I have six full days off because we are closing the office for the July 4th holiday. Hallelujah. I am looking very forward to some time off. No work. No band practices. Wednesday is the 4th and is always my favorite holiday aside from Christmas. Last year I spent it in the hospital because I had just had Sullivan. I'm looking forward to hanging out with family and watching fireworks. A few days after that, we will be celebrating Sullivan's birthday and I'm excited to be with family once more. It should be a full and refreshing week as long as we all get healthy. 

Here's Marin at Week Fifty One! 

Baby Sullivan | Week Forty Eight

I can feel summer inching its way in a lot lately. Our air conditioner has been working overtime the past few days. It's been a hot, sticky kind of heat and I'm never really ready for it once it arrives. I am much more of a fall kind of gal and long for the days of hot coffee, tall boots, and falling leaves. I'm pretty basic like that but I am alright with that. Pretty much just let me live in an episode of The Gilmore Girls during the fall season. I'm set. 

This week has been filled with a few days of work, helping lead worship at church, a garage sale. Marin has lived in every Elsa dress from Frozen that she can get her hands on. I finally had to pry one of the dresses out of her arms just so I could wash it because it was nearing the point of being able to stand up on its own, covered in apple sauce, chocolate milk, and who knows what else. It was getting pretty stinky. We've been re-watching Frozen a lot lately around these parts....that and Finding Dory is a current favorite. 

I've been working with Sullivan still on crawling. We are even at the point where I have placed some puffs just out of his reach in hopes that he will just crawl to get them. The little man loves his food and what better way to get him moving than tempt him with banana puffs. He just looks at me like.."Seriously mom? Not happening. Even for a puff." He is getting there and kind of scoots a little bit, mostly in a backwards direction. It's still a process. 

He is growing at such an alarming rate. I will have a one year old in less than a month and I can hardly believe it. We just moved him up to size 5 diapers. Size 5! I'm not even sure that Marin ever wore size 5 diapers before she potty trained. He's not tiny. That's for sure. 

His new thing is splashing during bath time. It's become kind of an annoyance because we are pretty much completely soaked by the end of the bath. He shares the tub with Marin and we worked really hard at getting her to only make "little splashes." She always says..."Little splashes are okay, Sully. Just little splashes." I know this is a phase and he thinks it's the coolest thing ever but I would prefer to not be soaked by the end of bath time. I usually like bath time. It's one of my favorite times with both of the kiddos. Another work in process. 

This week has me thinking a lot about life and how it can come and go so swiftly at times. My grandfather, my mother's dad, is not doing great health wise and everyday I wake up and pray that he would be comfortable and have peace during this time. I just realized too that he has never met Sullivan and that makes my heart hurt. I think the last time I saw him was a few weeks before Sullivan was born. Visit the ones you love, spend time with them when you are able to because you might not get the chance at some point. That's resting pretty heavy on my heart today. 

Here's Marin at Week Forty Eight. 

Baby Sullivan | Week Forty Seven

Today, June 3rd, Sullivan James is 11 months old...give or take a few days in the grand scheme of things. This time last year, I was uncomfortable and quite pregnant. We were getting ready to have air conditioning installed in our home and that has been one of the best decisions we have ever made as home owners. Seriously, life changing. 

Anyways...11 months old. I can hardly believe that in a month we will have a 1 year old in our home. No more formula and bottles, hallelujah! He has slowly been wanting bottles less and less and his preference is most definitely solid foods. I feel like the transition to just milk at meal time and no more bottles will be fairly easy with him. Just like with no longer breastfeeding, it just sort of happened one day. One day, he decided he was done and that was that. I, of course, am still kind of sad about no longer nursing but I am working through that a little more every day. 

Sleepy dude after the Splash Park with Grammy. 

I need to start planning a 1 year old birthday bash for Sullivan now. We have never really been the type of parents that go all out for birthday parties. I am not the mom that invites every kid from school and life to a party at our home. I don't think there's anything wrong with doing that but we just love to open our home and lives to those we are closest to, our family. I am looking forward to the fact that Sullivan has a summer birthday (July 3rd) and we can be outside. With Marin, she was born in February so we are always cram everyone into our living room with over flow into the kitchen and up the stairs. 

In other news, we bought a new car after the great Hail Apocalypse of 2018. It's still crazy to me that we even had a storm like that but we are moving forward. We ended up leasing a Kia Optima for Ryan and he is nerding out with all things new car. It's super nice and we got a killer deal on it from a local dealership in town. I know leasing isn't always the best option but it worked within our budget for now and we went for it. We weren't exactly planning on having a new car payment right about now, especially now that I'm working a lot less hours than before. 

This week is shaping up to be a busy but good one. I somehow conquered most of the laundry this weekend and tomorrow will just be for bedding and towels. I'm off tomorrow and this house needs a good scrubbing. I didn't really do it last week and I can always tell. Next week, Ryan and I are going on a little trip and to say I'm excited is an understatement. First off, we are seeing pretty much my favorite musician ever at the best venue ever. Ryan Adams at Red Rocks. It doesn't get any better. We are then going to spend some time up at Blackhawk. I am looking so forward to getting away for a few days, kiddo free. The last time we were up in Blackhawk, that was the weekend I found I was pregnant with Sullivan. Good times. 

Here's Marin at forty seven weeks. 

Baby Sullivan | Week Forty Four

I realized this morning while at church that I didn’t write out Sullivan’s weekly post yesterday. Oops! I totally forgot! But, here we are and I have some super adorable photos for you all.

First of all, it’s Mother’s Day. I want to say Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful mother and my wonderful mother-in-law. Mom, you have been a constant support and guide in my life and I am forever thankful and blessed by your wisdom. Thank you for loving me so well and helping me journey through life over the years. Thank you also for being an amazing Grammy to our children. We don’t know what we would do with out you!

Reenie, Happy Mother’s Day to you! Thank you for raising your son so well and for taking me in as another daughter in your life. I also don’t know what we would do without you and I love having you in our lives and I know the kids feel the same way.

I am very thankful that both of our mothers are so close to home. Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Also, happy Mother's Day to my amazing sister. Gunnar is super blessed to have such a great mom like you. I'm glad we get to journey through motherhood together. 

Sullivan is forty four weeks old this week and time is flying, per usual. His little personality has really begun to start shining through lately. I keep feeling like I’m getting little glimpses of the little boy that he will soon become. He’s full of character and kind of feisty and I love him for that.

He still isn’t crawling but we are trying to give him all of the opportunities he needs to do so. I know it’s only a matter of time before he’s getting into everything and crawling all over the place. I know once he figures out how to do it, we won’t be able to stop him.

Both kids have been waking up super early this week and I know that’s mostly due to the fact that the sun is up so much earlier lately. I need them to sleep in...only a little! 5:30am is a little too early. That’s when I get mommy time and I need it! Everyday!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms out there. I’m right there in the trenches with you and I know beyond a doubt that my children are one of the best things to ever happen to me. They challenge me, they push my buttons, but they also bless my socks off.

For all of you moms today...go take a bubble bath, drink some wine. Leave the dishes in the sink at least until tomorrow. Go kiss your babies good night and sleep soundly feeling blessed, with full hearts. You deserve it. 

Here’s Marin at Week Forty Four!