Rhett got a big bear

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we were thankful for GRANDPARENTS! My parents came out all the way from Virginia to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. Rhett had such a fun time with Grandma and Grandpa!

My Sweet Boy

Visiting Oma and Opa!

While Josh has been on quarter break, we've had some time to head over to Peoria and visit his parents--Rhett just loves spending time with Oma and Opa! He gets so much love and attention and he just eats it right up. He was exhausted when we got home, but it was worth it. We love getting to spend time with grandparents!

Photo Dump 3-6 Months

Some little-seen photos of Rhett--3-6 months

Rhett at Seven Months

My baby is seven months old! I've always thought of six months as a line. Once you hit it, you're no longer a little baby. You're a big baby! In stature, Rhett is still a pretty little boy. But his mind is growing every day and we can really see the changes in him all the time! He's developing such a little personality. He loves to laugh with us, and really enjoys being the center of attention. He's not pleased when play time is cut short for silly things like naps and bottles.

"MY new toy! Not for you!"

"This is my bread"

He's gotten the hang of purees--he's tried avocado  banana, carrots, sweet potato, squash, green beans, peas, apples and probably a few that I'm forgetting. His favorite so far is bananas and he's never thrilled when carrots are on the menu. He's not enthusiastic about feeding himself yet. It's funny because he's at the stage where toys (and pretty much everything) goes directly in his mouth. But put a cracker in front of that kid and he will just crush it up and throw it around the room.

He is THIS CLOSE to crawling. He can get up on all fours and scoot around pretty well. I'm sure he's just going to take off one of these days. I'm still enjoying his immobility. It's nice to be able to set him down on  the carpet and go to the bathroom without having to worry about him too much.

"Daddies are fun!"

Rhett loves his daddy so much. I don't know what it is about those two, but they just have so much fun together. When I come home from work, Josh always has a new 'trick' to show me that they learned from each other that day (today it was that if you kid Rhett's belly over and over, he laughs like a madman). It's sweet to see what a special bond they have.
Rhett can sit up on his own really well now. He can even get into sitting position by himself sometimes. He likes to sit and watch everything. He usually gets pretty upset if he tips over though. He's frustrated that he doesn't have more control over his body. Soon, buddy.

Rhett thinks the world is hilarious. He laughs when we laugh and also loves airplane, peek-a-boo, being upside down, being tickled and of course, his belly getting kissed. It is such a joy to see him so happy all the time. We feel truly blessed by our little boy.

My New Job

About a month ago, I accepted a new position at an Early Childhood Center close to home. It is essentially the same hours that I was working at my previous position as a preschool aide, but there's no comute and the pay is also a little better. It's a much better fit for my family, and I've been getting my feet wet for a few weeks now. 

The school is in a lovely building in a lovely park. It's an old mansion that was once on a rolling plantation. The park that it's nestled in has been gorgeous this Fall--the leaves falling all around us on the playground mesmerize the children and me as well. God's truly amazing in his creation. 

This is the first time in a long time that I've been in a secular environment for a substantial amount of time. I wasn't expecting it to a huge adjustment  but it has been! I'm not used to not being able to talk about my faith or share it with others whenever I feel the internal Call to do so. It's been a bit of struggle for me when I see children who I know could really benefit fromt he Gospel message. 

All of my students are upper class, and there from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. every day. I'm in a two year old classroom. It bums me out that these kids don't get to spend much time with their parents. All of their parents have very lucrative careers--doctos, lawyers and politicians are all represented in my students. It's really made me reflect on our situation. We don't have much, really--being in school and raising a baby is hard on our finacnes. But we do have a lot of time that we get to spend together as a family. And I don't think we could ever trade that time for all the money in the world. I don't mean to sound like I'm judgmental of the parents at my school--they've made the choices that they believe are best for their family and that's really all anyone can ever do. 

Division of Parenting Roles

I've always thought that how people divide parental duties is interesting. I probably won't remember much what Josh and I did during Rhett's first few years of life, so I thought I'd write down here what the first six months have been like.

Josh and I have honestly been as close to 50/50 in raising Rhett as a couple could possibly be. I think that women generally take on the majority of parenting in the first year (and beyond) while men work or do other things. This is how I would have envisioned raising our children. But Rhett came a little earlier than we had planned, and with Josh in school and me being the provider, we had to structure our family dynamic a little differently. We've fallen into patterns that really work for us, and though I wish I didn't have to work and could be doing more at home, I am extraordinarily grateful for the bond that Rhett and Josh share and I know that Josh's life has been enriched by being such an integral part of Rhett's babyhood.

Bottle-feeding, of course, has the perk of making splitting parenting jobs a bit easier. Josh has always been an active participant in feeding Rhett. In fact, Josh generally takes the majority of feedings--he'll sit and feed Rhett a bottle, while I pump to replace that bottle.

Right now, Josh is on "Rhett duty" from the time we wake up to 1:00 when I get off work. A babysitter watches Rhett while Josh is in school, but Josh gets him up in the morning, feeds, changes diapers and dresses him for the day and then walks with him to campus. Josh also visits Rhett periodically throughout the day, feeding him, playing with him, and taking him to chapel.  I pick Rhett up at 1:00, and take care of all of his needs until I start making supper (Josh does his homework during this time). We spend time together as a family from about 5-7 every day, which is bedtime for Rhett. We put Rhett to bed together by giving him a bath, changing him and reading together.

Late night stuff has changed a bit. When Rhett was waking up throughout the night, we had a strict 3:00 a.m rule: I woke up and took care of every feeding before 3:00, Josh took every feeding after. Now that Rhett rarely wakes up, our rule is that when he cries in the middle of the night, one person gets up and gets him and a bottle and brings them to the other person in bed. That person gets to stay in bed, but they feed him there, and then can choose to either leave him in bed with us, or take him and put him back in his crib when he's done with the bottle. Whoever wakes up first can decide which one they want to do. Generally, Josh brings Rhett to me and I feed him and then put him back in his crib.


We've always fallen into really natural and easy roles. Raising Rhett together has been such an amazing adventure and it's drawn us closer together as a couple and has honestly strengthened our marriage. Babies can be such a stressor for a lot of people, but I really feel like we're doing well with the dynamics of it all. We've put in some great teamwork when it comes to raising our son and I'm proud of the job we've done so far.