4, 5, and 6 Months

Warning: Picture overload and longest post ever written here at Sloneker Stories. :)

I'm grouping these last three months together for a few reasons:
A. Because looking back on it, these three months were such a blur it seems like they all just kind of ran together.
{and} B. {which may be the more obvious one} There was SO MUCH that happened within these three months that I just didn't take the time to sit down and blog about them.
How's that for honesty?! ha.
So...let's see how sharp my memory is at recalling maybe some of the biggest developmental months thus far in our son's life. Yikes! {deep breath...here we go.}

On May 10th Davis turned 4 Months Old!

At his appointment he still proved to be longer than he is wider.

He was 45% in weight, 86% in height, and moved up to 41% in head circumference!! :)

Thankfully Del went with me for this  one so that he could experience the dreaded shots. I'm pretty sure he had a harder time with it than I did. But at least he now knows that I wasn't exaggerating about how sad the whole experience is. He sure loves his boy.

On his "birthday" we received this picture that was taken just a few...28 years ago.

Can you guess who this is on the left? 

Nope, it's not Del. It's me! My mom sent me this picture on Davis' 4 Month "birthday" and we were all a little shocked. Everyone always says how much Davis looks like Del...so what we've decided is that he looks like me as a baby, but he looks like Del as an adult. So when you add those two together, I guess you could say that as a baby, I looked like adult Del?! Haha.

But other than the big 4 month check-up, we hit the ground running once May arrived. We started out the month traveling to NWA for my first wedding of the Summer Season....which unfortunately was my last wedding to shoot with Blaire. She moved to Atlanta at the end of May so it was a bitter-sweet day for sure. But thankfully, while I was gone, Del was successful at giving Davis a bottle! Around 3 months Davis decided that the bottle just wasn't for him. {Awesome, huh?} So this was definitely a source of anxiety for me knowing that June was packed with weddings and I obviously didn't want my child to go 12 hours without eating!

A few weeks later we celebrated my First Mother's Day...which was so so so sweet. Well...technically last year was my first Mother's Day, but I didn't know that I was pregnant yet. We spent the morning snuggling and opening gifts...and then headed to NWA to spend the day with my mom, gma, and aunt {who is my God-Mother}.

It was a special day for sure!!

 After Mother's Day was over, we started preparing for the mass about of people and activities that were about to hit us that very next week.
We had our final meeting with our CMA Bible Study. We are going to miss this group dearly, but we are thankful for the practical/Biblical Truths that were poured into us by the Houks and Dietrichs over these last 3 years. I do not have the words to express the deep love and appreciation we have for these dear couples.

 On May 18th we kicked off Graduation Weekend by attending Del's Honors Convocation. It was a very special ceremony where each of the med students were "hooded" and recognized for their accomplishments during med school. Del asked Dr. Houk if he would "hood him" {I don't know the technical name for it. ha} and of course he did...which  made it even more special.

 Then the following afternoon, Del "officially" graduated for Med School. Woo-hoooo!!
{I'll do an entire separate post on this event because there is just too much to mention here...and WAY too many pictures}

 Then on Sunday, we loaded up the car and headed to Branson for a few days with Del's family. It was so special to have them all in town for the occasion. Especially because this was the first time for Davis to meet his cousins Will and Aubrey!
{I don't think Davis was a huge fan of the life jacket. ha}

In our minds it was the perfect plan: We would stay in Branson from Sunday-Wednesday, come home Wednesday afternoon, finish packing our house, load up the truck Thursday morning, head to NWA on Thursday evening, so that Del and my dad could leave for WA on Friday morning.
Haha! Yeah. Right.
The plan would have worked out perfectly if it wouldn't have taken ALL DAY {literally} for us to pack up the truck on Thursday. My dad even came down to help because we were having to do it all ourselves because EVERYONE else we knew was also packing and loading trucks that same day! They packed the truck into the night, when we realized that we didn't have anywhere for Davis to sleep! ha. Cue pallet on the bathroom floor!

Davis and I finally went to Chris and Susan's to sleep and Del and my dad slept at a hotel. Ha. So...technically our last night in LR was spent in different places. Oh well.
Friday morning, we grabbed Chick-fil-A and said goodbye to 100 S. Plaza Drive.

 Del and my dad stopped off in NWA once Davis and I got there...and then headed west, while I stayed in NWA with my mom because I had a wedding to shoot the next day.

Then on Monday, my mom, aunt, Davis and I boarded the plane to meet Del and my dad at our new home! It was a group effort to keep Davis happy on the flight from Dallas to Seattle, especially on the descent because the pressure was hurting his ears BAD. And by bad, I mean BAD. Even the stewardess and the lady sitting in front of us walked him around for a while. Nothing helped. It all made sense the next morning when he spiked a super high fever and we realized that he had his first cold. Poor baby!

 But we arrived safely {even though I have a few more gray hairs to show for it} and we quickly go to work unpacking....and tending to a sick baby.

My mom, dad and aunt stayed until the end of the week to help us unpack and then on June 10,

Davis turned 5 Months Old!

At this point we were still in Washington for another week, so we soaked up as much time with Del as we possibly could.

We visited surrounding towns, churches, and took in the amazing NW Summer Weather!!

I mean really, does it get much better?

A morning run in June, wearing a light jacket, a sleeping baby, and a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier?!

Please someone pinch me!!

But the time came for Davis and I to pack our bags and head back to AR for the 3-weekend-wedding-palooza!

By this point Davis was sitting up a little bit, so it made going through the airport with only one set of hands a little easier.

He did great on both of our flights back to AR! Thankfully no issues with the pressure this time around.

I think the saddest part about having to make this trip back to AR was that we weren't able to celebrate Del's first Father's Day with him...which also happened to be our Anniversary this year. Double Sad. We celebrated it before we left WA, but it was still a little heart wrenching for this sentimental girl. Thankfully God gave the idea of Skype and FaceTime to a wonderful human being, and because of that, Davis was able to see his Dada "in person" on this oh so special day!

But one of the really great things about being back in AR was that I was reunited with my camera! ha. I had left it there so that I wouldn't have to haul it back and forth with a baby in tow. And can I tell you...it was a sweet reunion! :)

By this point Davis was really starting to try to sit up without using his hands...but there were obviously a lot of face plants in the process. haha.

Davis loves his Grandpa! And I think the feelings are mutual. ;)

Oh I love this sweet boy! And those eyes. Gah. Melt my heart.

Ha. And who needs a paci when you have your bottom lip?!

Thankfully while we were in NWA, our time wasn't totally consumed with work!
We were able to do fun things like:
.....have breakfast in "our" jammies with Sarah at ChickfilA....
{By the way, the closest CFA to us is in Idaho, so I will definitely be working on perfecting my Chicken Sandwich Recipe. Please don't let that deter you from visiting! ha. We have other really great restaurants and I will also cook for you!!}

...Davis rolled over from his back to his stomach for the first time while we were there...
{which I, of course missed. Sneaky kid.}

...we were able to have dinner with our special friends Billy, Gretchen, Ben, and Ashley....

...and we went Zip Lining!!

My Aunt Sue turned 60 this year and for her birthday she wanted all of us to go zip lining with her! ha. It was such a fun day with family and friends.

{Don't be scared, Chelsea! You can do this!!}

We went in two groups, so while our group was up in the trees Davis stayed with "group 1".
I think he had fun as well!! :)

And of course our trip couldn't end without a good ole "throw up all over mommy-then poop in the tub while I'm cleaning you up-resulting in a bath in the kitchen sink at 3am" fun fest!! haha.
Which honestly I didn't mind because it resulted in one of my absolute favorite pictures of Davis!

Man I could just eat him up!!

Once the last wedding had been photographed, we jumped on a plane and headed back to WA for a few more weeks with Del!

I was so happy to be back on Sunday so that we could be there to "see Del off" on his first official day of Residency. And by "see him off" I mean, "peek through my sleepy eyes and try to muster enough energy to say 'bye and have a great day'" as he left the house at 3:30 am.

 So to try and "redeem myself" for not "seeing him off" June Cleaver style, I thought it would be nice to have a "welcome home from your first day of Residency dinner" ready for him when he got off work. Umm...yeah right. He called around 7pm to tell me that he just found out that he was on call and didn't know when he would be home. Welcome to the Reality of Residency. So, I gave myself a pep-talk, put on my big girl pants, and embraced the fact that this would be the first of many dinners that Davis and I would eat alone.

But once again I was so thankful for our CMA leaders that prepared us and engrained Truth into our minds and hearts because in that moment their words came flooding back and brought peace instead of tears. It's ok for Davis and I to eat dinner alone every once in a while, because the truth of the matter is that God has called Del to be a doctor for this season of life, and until that time is over, there will be people that need him at the hospital at that moment more than I need him at home. Period. So, as I preach that to myself, if you see me moping around...you can remind me of that simple truth as well. ;)

So, even though he was on call his first night of Residency, he only had to work a few more days that first week since it was the week of July 4th! And since he is in the ARMY...that holiday is kind of a big deal. :)

We spent the weekend with new friends and co-workers, but also exploring a few of the trails around our house! One of them leads you all the way down to the Sound. Pretty sweet, huh?

Unfortunately we were still getting our house in order, but Davis did a nice job of helping Del with paperwork! ha.

 And then we finished off the weekend by spending the afternoon with one of the other ENT resident's and his wife and daughter at a local beach/park. 

The ocean + mountains in the background = 3 happy Slonekers!!

And just a few short days later...on July 10th Davis turned 6 Months Old!!

{also the first month that he realized that this sticker makes a really fun noise!}

And this is definitely the stage where these pictures get a lot harder to take!! ha.

Lot of eating shoes, leaning forward, watching Burt, rolling over, wanting to grab the camera, trying to get him to smile and look at the camera at the same time....all the while I'm just rapidly firing off pictures! ha.

...and this is how our 3 min photo shoot ended. ha.
A nose dive off the chair probably isn't the best idea.

 And of course with every major milestone, comes the dreaded shots.
This visit was a little different since we were at a totally new hospital with new faces and procedures. But thankfully God answered our little prayers and provided a wonderful physician and an excellent nursing staff! However I don't know if these visits will ever be easy....especially for the little guy. They gave me time to cuddle with him right after he got his shots and he immediately fell asleep.
Never happened before. Break. My. Heart.

But after a good nap, he was back to his smiley happy self!
Thankful for this growing baby boy!!
At 6 months his stats hadn't changed much:
33% for weight, 82% for height and 38% head circumference.

And just like that, Davis and I were back on a plane to finish out our last leg of our travels

{On a side note: isn't Mt. Rainier beautiful?}

 We flew in on Thursday, and on Friday morning, we drove down to Little to catch up with some friends, find Mack a good home, and of course....

....attend Cow appreciation Day!! We were sad that Ava wasn't able to join us for dinner, but we had a great dinner catching up with "Aunt Sus"!

The next day I photographed, worshiped and celebrated the wedding of our Sweet Emily and her awesome husband Taylor!! {Don't worry, there will be an entire blog post dedicated to them! It was the perfect way to finish up this wedding season in AR} Oh this picture just does my heart good!

 And once the wedding was over, we said our final good-byes, and boarded our last flight back in WA!
However once we arrived, Del wasn't able to pick us up because he was still at work {which I knew ahead of time, but was secretly hoping that he would surprise us at the airport, like something straight out of a chick-flick} so I choked back tears...put on my big girl pants {once again} and loaded our luggage, car seat, stroller, camera equipment, and our 6 month old up on the public transit, and rode the bus to one of the stops near the base where Del could meet us.

Davis loved it though...which made the whole experience a little easier to swallow. ha.

 Now that we are back {for real this time}, we have been truly exploring the area, along with all the fun things that this city has to offer! We love the Farmer's Market in Olympia, some of the local shops and bakeries, fresh produce stands, and the fountains near the Capitol are also really neat, but the water is freezing so Davis wasn't a huge fan. Maybe next sum me?! :)

And as an added bonus, Blaire and her kids came to stay with us for a few days at the end of the month! She snapped a few family pictures for us with our 6 month old boy, for which we are so grateful!! True Treasures. 

 WHEW!!! WE MADE IT!!
That about wraps up the last 3-ish months of our lives! I know I left out so much...but that at least helps me remember some of the highlights. Thanks for persevering with me through that, and for keeping up with us through our blog as we are embarking on this new adventure in this new part of the country!

{Can you even believe your eyes at how much our little guy has grown and changed?! ha}

I hope you have a great rest of the week!