Quatro

Dear Weston,

You know those books on our shelves that look like baby books? 

You know how Jack's book is really full, Finn's is half way full, Charlie's has his hospital papers in it, and yours is so pretty and new and untouched that it could be regifted?

That's because you're so 2014 and advanced that you get a blog post in lieu of a baby book, buddy!

It has nothing to do with me being too lazy to fill it out.

But speaking of lazy, 

LOOK AT THIS BELLY! 

You were in there, sweet boy.

Hiccups lower left. Butt upper left. Legs and punches entire right side. 

(No heart burn. No cravings. Just tired and general fatness.)

This was a few days before you were born. 

I was huffing it around the neighborhood trying to encourage your exit.

Jack had a baseball playoff game coming up, and I didn't want to miss it! 

And....we didn't miss the game.

You're already a team player.

Thank you.

If this guy ever tells you that you are adopted, don't believe him.

Because this is what it was like giving birth to you. 

This was me at 6-7 cm. 

Texting selfies. 

So that when you started sleeping through the night and I not only loved you but liked you, my friends would show this to me and remind me why "I'm done."

At 11:14pm on May 23rd, 2014

the doctor told us what we already knew in our hearts:

A BOY!

Weston Knight Ussery

Weston because we just liked it. It means "west of town", which is so....lame.

Knight because it's your Poppy's name and Pa's name and you were due on his birthday. 

I'm hoping he knows about you in heaven. 

You weighed 7 pounds 8.6 ounces

19 1/2 inches long

You were a handsome little bundle of love. 

Peach fuzz hair. 

Resemblances to your brothers, Jack and Finn.

Tiny pink lips. 

When you decided to make your exit, you made it quickly. 

They described your facial bruising as "a face of rapid descent."

I'm pretty sure it matched my "crotch of rapid descent."

Sorry. It needed to be said. 

I really enjoyed our time together in the hospital, Weston.

 Because other than our upcoming middle of the night feedings, I knew we wouldn't get a lot of one-on-one action.

I have to be honest with you. 

When you surprised us with our 4th pregnancy, I kind of grieved that Charlie wouldn't be our baby.

I also feared it because we had treated Charlie like the last little bitty baby, and I thought he would be an absolute brat.

But despite the undoubtedly horrible things he has very likely done to you since this post and when you're reading it, Charlie stepped up to the plate and was boss at being a big brother to you.

About a week after you came home, the older two got out of school for the summer. 

I tried to snatch you up and hide in the closet for the next 2.5 months.

But I realized that Finn would come looking for me when he couldn't tie his water balloons, and we'd be a sham.

Some of your photos look like you had jaundice, but you didn't. 

I just took all of your pictures with my phone and to make myself feel less lazy about not pulling out the nice camera, I would use all of the fun filters on Instagram. 

#jaundicefilter

GAHHHH! You are so cute.

You attended your first wedding at three weeks of age! (Austin and Bren Hall)

It was so nice to have you there so that people who didn't know we had another baby could obviously see you and know that I hadn't fully let myself go. 

You were a dream wedding guest. 

Until the fireworks.

We took you to St. Simon's, GA when you were 4 weeks old.

Everyone looked at us like we were a fifth of the Dugger family.

"Are these ALL yours?"

or my favorite:

"Are these all HIS?" (looking at your Dad)

Finn broke his arm on a playground while we were there. 

I had no trouble leaving you to head to a creepy ER in a strange little town because you were such a good baby, and your Daddy is such a good dad.

Most of our pictures together are like this:

Bath time is your favorite!

You get so wound up. Arms and legs flying everywhere! 

And at least one near freak out when Charlie dumps water on your head.

Your best move is when I pick you up, and you tuck your legs up and stick your butt out, arching your back with your hands in the air. 

Cause you just don't care. 

At six weeks, you were the youngest member on the annual Gardner/Ussery/Williams/Kincaid vacay.

Thankfully, we set your sound machine to "ocean" at home, so you were a goner when you got near the beach.

Here's the first Family of 6 photo!

(Not counting the real first ones of us all in the hospital because those are just scary.)

You have three brothers, Weston! How cool is that? Seriously. THREE BROTHERS!

Oh, and thanks for making our Halloween Ninja Turtle foursome complete!

You were really good at staring contests. 

You wouldn't even blink. 

Why is this? Seriously, does anyone know why babies don't blink? 

This picture makes does something to my gut. 

It's like that YouTube of those otters holding hands plus baby elephant plus baby dolphin level of precious. 

Weston, why did you have to grow?

That onesie has already been loaned out to someone tinier than you. 

I don't like that there is someone tinier than you now.

I look at you the way I look at your brothers. 

Complete adoration because I love you so much. 

And complete curiosity wondering what kind of man you will turn out to be.

This picture makes me think you were channeling some car salesman.

Jack has probably raised you because he's the most responsible of the entire Ussery, Jr. bunch. 

If you call him Mom, it's okay. I do, too, sometimes.

This was taken on a Saturday morning. 

Nothing special going on. 

But kind of everything special going on, too.

You trust your Dad and me already. 

I can tell by the way you stop fussing when we pick you up. 

And how you know when I sit down with you on the sofa by the big window that I'm going to feed you. 

I hope we never let you down, Buddy. 

Not buying you an Xbox doesn't count as a let down, by the way.

So there you have it. 

Your Baby Book Blog Post. 

Trust me. It's probably a thing now. 

When I was pregnant with you, the verse Micah 6:8 was special to me. 

We studied it through our church and even completed a community project based off of it. And tonight as you sleep swaddled in your crib with your entire life ahead of you, I can't think of anything better to pray over you.

"He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God."

Welcome to the world, Weston Knight!