Baby Buddies

One of the great things about living in Athens is St. Mary's Hospital. First of all, it is a beautiful hospital with a great staff. The rooms are spacious, and Mommies have the same room for delivery and postpartum care.  But the thing that has impressed us most about St. Mary's is the support provided to us after we had Landon.

Nursing a baby is one of the most rewarding things in life. But I'm not going to lie, it has its challenges! However, St. Mary's has a support system for new moms. Every Monday, they have a mommy group called Bundles of Joy. At this group, you can weigh your baby before and after a feeding to find out how much he or she is eating, get advice from the lactation consultant, and meet with other moms with babies close in age to your baby. There is also a group that meets on Fridays for new moms with babies and toddlers. Landon and I went just about every Monday (and Friday) until I went back to work in August. At this group, we connected with several other wonderful mothers and their precious babies. Each week we would eat lunch somewhere nearby and then all walk to Bundles of Joy. I will always look back on those Mondays as a special time to talk, laugh, and share our experiences as new moms. Here are some pictures of our sweet babies when they were teeny tiny!

Landon and James (around 1 month old)

Charlie, Landon, James, and Joshua (around 2 months old)

Charlie, Joshua, Landon, and James (around 3 months old)

Landon and Tripp (around 4 months old)

James, Tripp, Landon, and Charlie (around 6 months old)

Natalie, Joshua, Elizabeth, and James at the St.Mary's Halloween Party

Tripp, Joshua, Landon, and Charlie (Halloween- around 7 months old)

Charlie, Joshua, Landon, and Tripp (Almost 7 months old)

Even though we don't really get to go to Bundles of Joy anymore (we are all working mommies), we try to get together at least once a month to spend some girl time and let the babies play. This week, we had a get together at our friend Crystal's house (she didn't go to Bundles of Joy this summer, but she and Tripp joined our little Mommy play date group this Fall). We had such a great time chatting and playing with the babies. When they were little, they used to just lay beside each other while we would talk. Now they actually play together!! Sadly, Lindsey, Baby Charlie, Elizabeth, and Baby James couldn't come, but we can't wait to see them in the next few weeks...Charlie and James will be having their first birthdays in March! Tripp, Joshua, and Landon will follow them with birthdays in early April.

Crystal blowing bubbles for the boys!

Landon loved trying to catch the bubbles!

Landon loved playing with his friends!