Austin's 4 Months Old!!

Here we are again, another month just flew by and my baby boy is 4 months old now. Aaaahhhh! I can't handle this! I feel like we just came home from the hospital last week. :( But Austin is doing amazing and growing like crazy. We had his 4 month checkup this morning. He weighed 16 lbs. 3oz. (75th percentile) and was 24 3/4 in. long (25th percentile). Okay, so he's short and stocky, but adorable as can be! The pediatrician gave us the go-ahead to start some rice cereal, so we'll be experimenting with that this evening hopefully. Finally, we get to break out the highchair. I'm so excited! He took his shots like a champ again and only cried for a second. Now, he's fast asleep for what I'm sure will be a long 2-3 hour nap (which gives me plenty of time for a blog update).

Austin is sleeping anywhere from 10-12 hours straight through each night and takes two naps during the day usually. We are truly blessed that he sleeps so well. Of course, I have a feeling our next kiddo will be the exact opposite. And we're on a pretty good schedule everyday, taking four 8oz. bottles. He is so interactive these days, constantly cooing and grabbing at things. I bought a Baby Einstein DVD the other day, but he had no interest when I put it on. But the second I turned on his favorite show, Handy Manny, he went crazy cooing and kicking his legs. He absolutely loves that show. And he has grown to love his Baby Einstein activity bouncer, even though his short little legs just barely reach the floor. And he's loving tummy time more and more each day. We've gotten him to rollover from back to tummy a few times, but hasn't totally gotten the hang of it yet. But when we put him in his crib at night, he turned the complete opposite way by morning.

Now for the sad part. I am supposed to return to work 3 weeks from today, which already brings tears to my eyes. I'm trying not to think about it yet, but I know I'll probably have a breakdown that first week back. I have spent nearly 24/7 with my chunky monkey since he was born, and it breaks my heart that I will only get to see him a few hours a day once I go back. Don't get me wrong, I love my job (most of the time) and the challenges it brings. But I'm afraid that those 'challenges' are also going to bring me lots of stress and late hours that will keep me from my baby boy. I'm definitely going back to KPMG to give it a try to see how the whole work/life balance thing plays out. But my priorities have definitely changed, and I want to be at home as much as possible. If things don't work out to where I can have adequate time at home, I may have to explore other opportunities. Maybe this is just crazy talk and the high ranking 'one of Working Mother magazines top companies to work for' will end up working out. We'll just have to wait and see. But not working, is not really an option, so I will have to find something. Jordan has big plans of restoring his grandad's '69 Chevy truck (a.k.a. Ol' Red) and getting an in-ground pool next spring, so work it is. I don't know how families do it on a single income anyways. Well, unless you're married to a partner. :)