Making a House a Home: Stout Family Adventures : Life With Corbin

Corbin is nearly 4 months old! What?! How did that even happen?! It seems like just yesterday I was waddling around waiting to meet this little boy inside me, and now...I can't imagine life without him! Even though the time has flown by, it also feels like Corbin has been a part of our lives forever; which in a way, I suppose he has. I have been thinking about kids for A LONG time.

When I was little, I had a video camera that never left my hand. I recorded every thing from commercials about orange juice to "Car's News Network," to sitting around my living room doing nothing. But, what I have the most of, is tours of my bedroom so that my future children could see what my room looked like growing up (because I know that one day that will be so interesting to them! haha-I was like 9, okay). But really, I have several letters in my journal addressed to "My Future Children" telling them all about my jr. high and high school experiences. I even have letters to my future self that I wrote when I was 17 telling me what life was like so I would know what my kids were going through. As Sean and I were discussing marriage we talked about kids; names we liked, how many we wanted, how close we wanted them, etc. So yeah, Corbin has been "around" for some time. And now that he is an actual tangible being, someone I can hold and feed, and care for, I feel like our lives are so much more complete.

It is so interesting how much our little family has changed since the arrival of our little man. We sleep less, are less spontaneous, and it's definitely more difficult to shop, exercise, and watch movies with Corbin around. Honestly though, all of those things we expected, so it wasn't like we were not prepared or as if these things came as a shock. In fact, when we decided we wanted to start our family, we realized what we were "giving up." What did come as a shock and what we weren't necessarily prepared for, however, was what we were gaining.

I did not know exactly how much I was capable of loving until Corbin came. I thought I loved Sean more than it was even possible to love, but seeing him hold Corbin, and make faces at him to try and make him giggle... well, apparently I can love more. The love I have for Corbin is such a different love, one I can't even begin to explain. It's like Corbin and Sean are now a part of what makes me, me. Without them, I would not even be the "Carlee" that I know. As much as I love sleep, and sleeping through the night is a quickly fading memory, I actually sometimes enjoy getting up and feeding Corbin at 3am. It's so peaceful. Just him and I (with the occasional honks from the ferry boats right outside our window, but I try to tune those out). Sometimes it almost feels like the whole world is asleep, except us two.

I was totally unprepared for the worry that comes with being a mom. Yes, I have always been a worrier, so I knew I would worry about Corbin, but I think I have taken "worry" to a whole new level. Sometimes, I don't even know what I am worrying about, I'm just worried about him. Every time I am away from him, he's ALL I think about. It's ridiculous. We just moved Corbin out of our room and into his own room, which is about 20 feet away from ours, and that first night I was up nearly the entire time staring at the monitor watching him sleep. I missed him and he was only like 20 feet away. That is merely one example.

While it is harder to find "just us" time, Sean and I actually spend more quality time together. Maybe not quantity time, but quality time. We appreciate the 30 minutes we have after Corbin goes to bed and before we do, much more than we used to. We make more of an effort to plan date nights, even if they are just playing Nintendo and eating Starburst in the living room.

I had no idea how much fun it would be to watch Corbin grow up! The first smile, the first giggle, or the first time he reached for something, you would have thought it was Christmas morning at our house. When Corbin was first born, I kind of already knew him; he was the same little baby that was inside me. He held the same "sleep all day, party all night schedule," he made the same kinds of movements, etc. But now, as he is adjusting to this new world and is growing up (a whopping 4 months) it's like I'm actually getting to know a human being! He's not just a little doll anymore. He has some personality, and he is becoming somebody. It is so fun!

We are having such a blast learning how to be parents. Poor Corbin, as the first child he is definitely our guinea pig and we have made many mistakes on him, but like I said, we are just learning. Corbin is a pretty good sport about it all.

Get to know Corbin:

Likes:
1) Milk...my milk
2) Lights-he could stare at them all day
3) Diaper changes-when he was born, the diaper change was the end of the world. Not sure what changed but now he's all smiles.
4) My singing-that's a first for me
5) Sean's guitar-he absolutely LOVES when Sean plays
6) Books-he has to be in the right mood, but he loves brightly colored pictures
7) Laughter-he loves when we laugh, it makes him giggle
8) Mom and Dad-he really loves us. When he first sees us in the morning, biggest smile of the day!
9) The binky-he has a pacifier with a giraffe on the end, which somehow got named Mr. Puzzles
10) Outside-he loves to be outside and getting some fresh air! Walking outside calms him down nearly every time
11) BATH TIME!

Dislikes:
1) Being put down-this boy just loves to be held, and throws a little tantrum when it's time to be put down
2) Booger Sucker-I have only had to suck out his nose a few times, but it's pretty awful
3) His carseat-he used to love it, now he can go from smiling to full out fuss-face in a matter of seconds
4) Gas-makes his tummy sore :(
5) Tummy time-sometimes he tolerates it, but for no more than 5 minutes and he's done
6) Load noises-just recently I have discovered that Corbin does not like the vacuum, my hair dryer, or flushing toilets
7) When Mom and Dad sit-he likes to be held, while we are standing. Not sure how he knows the difference