Dear Landry,

I literally cannot believe I am sitting down to write your ONE year old letter!  

You have been such a sweet little addition to our family.  8 lbs. 11 oz. of pure perfection!  My sweet tootey...  

You were born the day before Thanksgiving, so this year, your birthday is on Thanksgiving!  What a timely little gift we are...because we are oh so thankful for you.

Our start was a little rough...you were a very grumpy baby which was hard.  Plus I also had your brother and sister to take care of.  So that mix plus breastfeeding sent me straight on board the crazy train.  But we quit breastfeeding around 3.5 months--my sanity started to come back and you chilled outs some.  And you turned into such a happy little fella!  Even though you are still (and probably always be) my neediest child :)

You, my sweet Landry, are such a little wiggle worm!  Through my whole pregnancy, you wiggled and kicked nonstop...and that didn't stop at all when you were born.  Unless you were completely sound asleep, you never relaxed enough to be completely still.  We had to swaddle you up tight as a newborn to get you to sleep because you would flail your arms around and keep yourself awake!  

You are also the sweetest little snuggler (but you wiggle even during those snuggles!).  You love to lean in close and give loves, you come lay your head down on people's laps, and if theres a blanket or pillow nearby, you grab it and snuggle in.  It's incredibly sweet.

Let me tell you something--I will never believe that dancing is a bad thing because so many sweet little babies dance instinctively when they hear music.  YOU definitely got that instinct!  You move your hips back and forth, shake your shoulders, and bounce up and down.  You love music and you love to dance!

One of my favorite things you started doing a few months ago--when someone is holding you on their hip and they're not paying attention to you, you lean around to look at their face and get their attention. Cracks me up!  You don't like to be ignored...

You are toddling around and getting better at it each day.  But you also don't need to walk to get anywhere quickly...you are the fastest crawler I have ever seen in my life.  And you are in to everything...  You dig and chew and open cabinets and crawl through tight spaces and explore all over.  Nothing is safe when you're around! And everything goes in your mouth...

You absolutely love bath time!  This has been a fun change from your brother who screamed through every single bath...you get excited and head to the bathroom as soon as you hear the water running.  Splashing around cures any grumps you may have had and you will play in there as long as I'll let you!

About two months ago, your hair really started getting curly, especially after baths.  And now it's curly all the time!  I don't really even know what to do with it, but I love it!  Daddy wants to cut it (because it is pretty long and a bit shaggy), but I won't let him :)

As of right now, you're not really "talking", but you do say mama, dada, hey, and just this week, Bella (ella-la).  You will also sing along with us or music playing.  And your new favorite is pretending to cough--you get the giggles every time!  You shake your head no and clap your hands, give fives and wave bye.  And you have 8 teeth with at least four more on their way right now.  You discovered balls this month and love them.  You'll throw them and then go get them--playing fetch with yourself, haha!  And you drool the absolute most of anyone ever. 

Outside...if I would leave you outside your whole life, I don't think you'd complain one bit.  If you see a door open, you dart towards it.  And if it closes with you stuck on the inside, oh how the tears come.  You always smile so big when we walk outside.  You love to swing and crawl around in the grass.  Outside is definitely your happy place.

I absolutely love how friendly you are.  You seriously never meet a stranger.  If anybody pays you any attention (which, let's be honest, everyone does because you're cuteness is like a magnet), you smile so big and reach for them (a lot of times, you actually leap for them, haha).  You also really like guys (which is fun because Arabella and Kaplan never did)...Daddy, Papa, PawPaw, Unc, Evan...you just get so excited!  They're your buddies.

However, your favorite people and friends just may be your brother and sister.  The three of you are such a dynamic little squad.  They absolutely adore you (sometimes too much, getting all in your spaces, haha).  They are so protective of you and so excited about you.  And you get pretty excited about them too!  It is so fun to watch you love each other!  I absolutely cannot wait to see all of the adventures you get to have together.  

Landry Cohen, you have added so much joy and love to our little family...and a little bit of craziness too!  It is so much fun to see little pieces of who we are come out in you.  You are just such a cool kid.  I hope you never lose your curiosity and determination...and your JOY!

Your daddy and I will fight for you, protect you, teach you, and love you every single day of our lives.  You will always be our precious, perfect son; our third baby; our beautiful, blessed gift.

From Here...

....To a Year

Happy birthday, sweet boy!  I love you more than you will ever know.

xoxo, mama

and then there were five...

*Finally making myself sit down to write this birth story out--2.5 months after you were born :P*

And now here I am making myself finish it...11 months after you were born...bah.

This pregnancy was a surprise for us.  We hadn't been preventing anything since we had Kaplan since it had taken us a while to get pregnant with both of them.  And the beginning of that year had been so busy and stressful, it was far from our mind as a possibility.  Until I came home from Easter at the camp and took a test just out of curiosity...

...PapPaw had just passed away a few weeks before and life was a little hectic that month.  Easter at the camp was so special and tender and a little bit hard.  Uncle B and Aunt Lindsey had just gotten to tell him they were pregnant again about a week before he passed away and his response was that we wouldn't be far behind (even though we promise, you were a complete surprise to us...).  So we feel without question that you are our sweet little gift from our angel PawPaw; a beautiful Easter promise that life will go on.  

Your PawPaw, PawPaw, Your Daddy, and Kaplan...4 generations of  Newby Men.  He would have been SO proud of you!  Another little boy dog...

I went to the dr at the end of that week to confirm pregnancy and draw labs.  Again, my progesterone was too low, but thankfully I only had to take one pill this time instead of twice a day (those things mess with me!).  We knew you would be another C-section, and again this makes the whole pregnancy a little different.

We had our big anatomy scan with you later than your brother and sister--I was around 24 weeks before they performed yours.  And as always, it is my absolute favorite.  The difference this time was that we already knew you were a boy!  Since Uncle B and Aunt Lindsey had just found out they were pregnant too and we were due within a few weeks of each other, we decided to do a joint gender reveal party.  So I got to have an extra ultrasound with you at 17 weeks :)  But she turned the screen off when she got to your man parts and wrote the gender down in a sealed envelope.  We gave the envelopes to Leslie, and she filled balloons with blue/pink paint based on the gender.  A week later, we all gathered together, and your daddy and Uncle B shot those balloons with BB guns to reveal a whole bunch of BLUE paint!  Two boys!

My pregnancy with you was a good one in that I was healthy and you were too.  But it was really hard on me.  I was absolutely exhausted having to take care of Arabella and Kaplan as well.  And you big ole babies literally just wear my body out.  Heartburn started the earliest with you and I slept propped up basically the whole time.  I also lost my breath very easily and stayed pretty cranky.

My actual due date was November 28, but because it was so close to Thanksgiving, it took us a long time to set your date.  We really didn't know exactly which day we were going to have you until the week before!  We decided on Wednesday morning, spending Thanksgiving in the hospital, and a weekend release.

The Tuesday night before I had you was the area wide Thanksgiving service (and the Saturday before was our community Thanksgiving meal)--Trey was coming in to speak, which I was so excited not to miss!  A lot of people thought I was a little crazy, but there wasn't anything I would have rather done my last night before having you...  Your daddy and I, plus Bella and Kaplan went to eat at Carrabba's  before church (had to get one last good meal in!) and then Aunt Mel spent the night to take care of your brother and sister while we went to the hospital.

The weather was so nasty Wednesday morning.  Luckily it didn't start raining until after we got there, but all of our family had to fight it.  You were scheduled for 8:30 so we had to be there at 6:30.  As usual, the IV was tough and absolutely miserable, and I cried and cried, haha...it happens.  And also as usual, things were running a little late.  Aunt Mel brought Bella and Kaplan up so we could see them before we went back.  They were SO excited to get to meet you!   Mimi and Papa, Nanny and PawPaw, MawMaw, Grandmaw, and your Juannie were all there too.  Plus Mrs. Windy was working that day so she came and checked in with us several times.

The time finally came...daddy was all suited up, he kissed me good luck, and they wheeled me into the OR.  And then we had to do the spinal.  Let me tell you Landry...you are so lucky I love you so much.  Because this spinal was absolute Hell...  The anesthesiologist was not the kindest guy, and his CRNA was having a realllllly hard time getting it in the right spot.  I lost count of how many times they had to stick me, but it was around 8-10.  I was literally sobbing crying, snot and tears all over the place.  It was lovely.  My doctor came in thinking we'd be ready to go, and he actually came and held me to help keep me in the right position for the spinal and to help calm me down.  It really was just awful.  And of course your daddy can't be in there for any of that :(   So literally 30 minutes later, I was going numb, they let daddy in, and it was go time.

After that, it all happens so, so fast.  I did really well with nausea this time and never felt sick (I was sick in the OR with Bella and  nauseated with Kaplan).  You daddy and I got to share some special glances and visits as we really took in what was happening...our third child was being born and it was just so emotional.  You were such a vocal little thing--you actually started crying before he even pulled you all the way out!  I just had a crying head hanging out of my belly, haha (daddy thought it was the suction...you had a deep cry and we weren't expecting you to cry until you were lifted out).  And then once he did finally get you out and lifted you up over that curtain, you really let it out!  Sweet boy.

This was the first time that I got to do skin to skin with one of my babies in the OR.  The nurses sucked you out and wiped you down and then immediately laid you on my chest.  It was so beautiful. They wrapped you up and let daddy hold you and we took all of our pictures and soaked all of you in.  While they were stitching me up, I asked for them to let daddy take you out to see Arabella and Kaplan...I wanted to be able to see their reactions to you so badly, but I also didn't want to make them wait another couple of hours for us to get out of recovery.  They were in love immediately.  And it was such a special moment for your daddy to get to introduce you to them...our three little minions.

When I got to recovery, you were there waiting on me.  We did skin to skin that whole time and you latched on to nurse like a champ, wiggling over to find it on your own.  We were both doing so well until they moved me to get ready to go back to our room...that's when the nausea hit.  And just like the other two, it lasted most of the day (until I got a shot of phenergan late that afternoon).  But I was so grateful I lasted so long before it hit...I will always treasure those little moments and memories in the OR and Recovery (with Bella I was throwing up the whole time and could barely even hold you; with Kaplan, they pushed meds to help with nausea and it made me forget absolutely everything).

After that, we made it back to our room (they brought you in about 30 minutes after I got there).  A little more skin to skin and then you were making the rounds.  So many people who loved you and couldn't wait to get their hands on you!  (Aunt Rachel and Karissa came down as well and got there just before we got to our room.  Kristen and Jason and Kaylee also came up later that day to meet you).  You were so snuggly and so squeaky and so perfect.

You got your first bath late that night and they did it in our room, so daddy and I got to watch.  They don't have a nursery at the hospital anymore so you stayed with us pretty much all the time.  Because you were over a certain weight, they had to check your blood sugar before feedings and you had to pass three consecutive times.  Bella and Kaplan struggled with this, but you were perfect all three times!  Such a relief not to have to deal with anymore pricks.

All clean!  And I know you can't see them well...but those little baby blue elephant pajamas with the grey trim were your first of your clothes to put on after your bath.  They were the first clothes Kaplan wore too :)

We spent Thanksgiving in the hospital--MawMaw made gumbo and potato salad.  Mimi and Papa and Aunt Mel and Unc came too.  You were the first of our three babies that your cousins got to meet in the hospital when you were oh so new!  They were all three smitten immediately.

Because you and I were both doing so well, we actually got to go home a day early and hopped out of that place on Friday!  Just like Kaplan, you wore the same little going home outfit that your daddy wore when he went home from the hospital.  So Friday evening, we loaded up into our minivan and headed home.  All five of us...

So there you were...

November 23, 2016

9:26 am

8 lbs. 11 oz.

19.5 inches

and then there were five...

xoxo, mama