One year gone....

It has FLOWN by. I honestly can't believe my baby boy has turned ONE year old. This past year has been the most exhausting, emotional and rewarding year of my life. A year ago I finally learned what mother's meant when they said that they wouldn't think twice before jumping in front of a moving vehicle for their child or that they would murder anyone who ever attempted to harm their child. I used to be a bit selfish, I guess we all are, but having a little one changes that so fast, you don't even realize it's happening.
Dan and I had River's birthday party yesterday at my parents house. It was a lot bigger of a production than I had originally planned. In my defense, if we had just invited family, there would have been about 15 people anyway, I was so glad that I did invite some of my co workers to come see him. They all experienced my WHOLE pregnancy and were there to see him when he was born, I felt it fitting to include them in this day as well. It was a LOUD day and River did get quite overwhelmed but overall, it was a ton of fun. I think we're set in the toy department now. :) I take River to his 1 year well baby check up in 2 weeks, so I can't really update with any height/weight statistics. I'm guessing he's around 22lbs ( if that, he's a skinny minny). He is right on track with his development. He doesn't really "talk" yet, but Dan has been getting him to say "dada" once in awhile. He just talks when he feels like it. Stubborn like his mommy. :) He is pulling up all of the time and walking as long as he's got something to hold on to, I have a feeling walking is just around the corner. I can't wait to see what THAT level of independence will do to him. Once he learned to crawl, he HATED being in the pack and play or being in a high chair, he realized that he was able to go where he wanted and dangit, he was going there! He's got quite the personality already and I can't wait for him to start talking to us, he's becoming such a little man. Here are some photos from his big birthday bash!

Too important not to share

PLEASE, if you are by chance reading this, text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross for the Relief effort. It's just $10 and will be charged on your next cell phone bill. I am reading more about the devastation in Haiti and have seen the most heart wrenching pictures. The hundreds of people dead or lost in rubble are PEOPLE, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and babies. They are not JUST numbers you read about on the daily news updates. If you have any compassion at all, PLEASE help. I'm sacrificing my Starbucks in order to give, we all can.

from MSNBC:
Bodies lay everywhere in Port-au-Prince: tiny children next to schools, women in rubble-strewn streets with stunned expressions frozen on their faces, men hidden beneath plastic tarps and cotton sheets.

The beginning of a new decade

It's hard to believe it's 2010 already, it really feels like 2009 flew by so fast. It was an amazing year. NOTHING will ever top giving birth ( which is one of the most empowering thing I have ever done), successfully breastfeeding my son for 6 months, working full time while doing said breastfeeding, working while also raising a child, or how about just MEETING my son, the most amazing child on the planet. :) I am so thankful for him. Becoming a parent has been a HUGE challenge for both Dan and myself, we are both always learning and I welcome the challenges it brings. They will only make us stronger in the end.
Anywho, Christmas was great for us. We didn't buy him a million toys ( he doesn't need them and I really want to raise my son with his feet on the ground knowing that the world doesn't TRULY revolve around him). We just had a great time getting to spend it with family. River was able to meet all of his great aunts and uncles and second cousins at the Burkemper Christmas. We drove almost 4 hours there and 4 hours back all in the same day and he did AWESOME. We were so glad that he didn't scream or cry once on the road. Great Kiddo. :) Here are some of our most recent photos. Hard to believe my little man is 10 months old already, I ordered the invitations for his 1st Birthday Party last week and almost had a heart attack. :)

Busy time of the year...

Here it is, almost 3 weeks away from Christmas, can't believe it's coming upon us so fast. My brother and sister in law are here visiting from Italy, so we celebrated Christmas with them a few days ago. River got to open his first ever Christmas presents and didn't give a rip. :) He loved the ribbons though, just like we knew he would. River is growing so fast, I know I say that a lot, but I'm his mom and he's my first and I can't help it. I took him to his 9 month well baby check this morning, he is 19lbs 10oz and 28 1/4 inches long. He's around the 25th % for both weight and height, he's our average little man. He's learning his words and has started mimicking us when we say "mama" "dada" "baba." it's wild. :) I think his biggest accomplishment in the last few weeks has been CRAWLING. That's right, he's mobile and I finally understand WHY parents need playpens. He's all over the place, just wait until he's RUNNING all over the place. I'm so not in a hurry for that to happen. :) Of course, with the crawling, there has to be room for learning boundaries, and we are REALLY teaching him that the Christmas tree is a no no. He does understand the word no, but he sure doesn't like it. :) He also has his first head cold and Daddy and I are both starting to get it. woohoo. His sleep schedule has been pretty crazy these past few weeks with Ben and Ashley and her family here at night, so hopefully it will go back to normal once they fly home, which is tomorrow. It's been great having them here, but I think we all are ready for our routines to come back. WEll, I can't think of much else to update, just so thankful to have a healthy, happy baby. We don't realize how lucky we are until a tragedy hits someone close to you. Dan's cousin Kimberly and her husband Shawn recently welcomed their baby girl, Juliana Rose on Thanksgiving Day. Juliana lived for about 1 1/2 hours. She had Potter's Syndrome and they were expecting her to either be stillborn or to live a short while. My mother in law was able to attend Juliana's funeral and said it was "profoundly moving." I start to tear up just thinking about it. As a mother, I can't imagine what Kimberly had to have been feeling or is feeling today. Knowing that by giving birth, your child will be dying...too much to fathom. We are sending our thoughts to Kimberly, Shawn and Nicholas and all of the Burkempers. They have their faith which I am sure is helping them move forward. It just reminds me to hold my son a little closer to me and be thankful that he is here with me.

almost 9 months...

River will be 9 months old in 4 days! It is really crazy how fast time has gone by. He's such a joy for all of us to have in our lives. We are very blessed. As I update this blog, my brother and his wife are on their way here from st louis. The original flight was delayed, but they are here and will be walking through the door soon. This is SUCH a big occasion for all of us. My brother has never gotten to meet River. He is so excited and we all can't wait! I can already tell they are going to be buds and River is going to LOVE his uncle Ben. A couple of weeks ago, my in laws had a photographer friend of Daniel's come out to Marshfield to take a bunch of family photos. We had a good time even though River was teething REALLY bad, but we got some cute pics out of the deal. Enjoy!

busy busy busy

I can't believe it's November already! Daddy has celebrated his 28th birthday and both of Riv's grandma's had their birthdays in October. River had his first Halloween and next weekend his Uncle Ben and Aunt Ashley are coming home for 3 1/2 weeks. We are all so looking forward to it. I haven't seen my brother since May 2008 and that was right before i got pregnant. He's in for a shock. :) River is going to just love his Uncle Ben. Hope we'll get a ton of pictures taken. River had his first real fever yesterday. He's been such a healthy baby for 8 months, so we tried not to freak out too much. We just gave him some motrin and kept him uncovered and he slept like a champ and woke up really happy today with no fever. YAY! We are heading out today to my in laws house in Marshfield for "Chilton family photos" so I hopefully will have some of those uploaded soon. Take Care Everyone!

WOW, have i neglected this....

Just a quick update. River is 8 months old today! He's amazing and growing up so fast. He is learning to crawl and he says "da da" and "ba ba" and makes this "tttsssss" noise all of the time. He has 2 bottom teeth coming in and let me tell you, mommy and daddy are feeling it too. :) He is the most wonderful little guy in the world and we absolutley adore him. He has to be one of the most loved babies, so many people just love him. We are so lucky. I will try to update with some pictures soon. :)