HAPPY EASTER!!!!

Happy Easter!!! Whew! What a busy weekend! All I really wanted to do after my first week back to work, was just stay at home all weekend relaxing with my boy. But of course, it was Easter weekend, which means splitting time between the two families. And you know me, I can't ever show up empty handed. :) So, Saturday while Jordan was at work, I cooked, alot! I made a hearty baked bean dish and a gooey chocolate cake to take to Jordan's parent's. And to take to my mom's, I made a pan of chicken enchiladas and beef enchiladas. Yeah, I know Jesus wasn't Hispanic, but we wanted to change up the meal a little. :)

We went out to stay at Jordan's parent's Saturday night, so that we wouldn't have to get up so early and rush out there on Sunday morning. Austin did well and slept like he was at home, thank goodness. After hanging out with the Houghams all afternoon, we headed back to Rockwall to my mom's for our Mexican dinner feast. We decided Austin needed to do a little Easter photo shoot so we threw him in a basket with some eggs. The pics turned out pretty good. And he enjoyed sitting outside on the swing and trying to walk through the grass.

And thank goodness for daycare; they saved me a trip to the mall! The Easter Bunny came to visit the daycare and they took pics with all the kids for free. I think Austin's turned out pretty well. :)

A Great First Week Back!!

We made it through our first week back to 'reality'! Austin has adjusted very well to daycare, and I am kinda glad to be back at work. Don't get me wrong, Monday was one of the toughest days ever. Okay, so I had a little bit of a breakdown at the daycare when it was time to leave him on Monday morning. But I'm sure I'm not the only mom up there who has cried her eyes out. After continuing to cry for the first 10 minutes of my drive to work, I managed to pull myself together. I put on my big girl pants and went to work. Of course, all I could think about all day was my Austin and wondered what he was doing. I managed to hold out until lunch to call to check on him, but he was doing fabulous. And each day has gotten a little easier to leave him. He is exhausted in the evenings and is still adjusting to all the stimulation up there. But I treasure each moment I have him home and focus on him 100% of the time when he is awake. And the daycare ladies absolutely love him and always tell me what a happy baby he is. And he is still eating and napping well, and is just falling right into their schedule, which makes this transition so much easier. When I picked him up on Monday afternoon, he started kicking his little legs and smiling at me when he saw me. It just melted my heart and brought tears to my eyes. :)

Going back to work has felt good, for now anyways. It was great to see my co-workers and catch up. But mainly all I heard was how exhausted and over-worked they were from the worst busy season in a while. Man, did I pick the right time to go on maternity leave! But so much has happened in the market and with the economy which affects my job, so I have a ton of reading to catch up on all of the technical issues which I need to be aware of. About Wednesday, I managed to actually get really focused on work and get back into the swing of things. It actually feels kinda nice to be using my brain again and feel like an adult during the day. Now I just need to train myself to be really focused all day long so that I can get my stuff done to be able to get out of there on-time.

I can't believe Austin will be 5 months old tomorrow! I know I say this each month as the 13th rolls around, but it's true. Time has honestly been flying by. He looks so grown up now and has an awesome little personality. Last night I was looking at some pics from when he was born and our first few weeks at home. It seems like it was yesterday, but he has grown so much! I weighed him this week and he was 17lbs. 13oz.!!!!!! I didn't measure his length, but he seems to have grown a little longer too. During bath time last week, Austin found a new toy, between his legs. :) He was just yanking on it and didn't want to let go. I wasn't sure what to do, if I should stop him or what. So, I did the only thing I knew, and that was grab the camera. :) Don't worry I won't be posting a pic of that; what kind of mother would I be!? He is eating his cereal twice a day now, and gobbles it all up in less than 5 minutes. No force-feeding here; he opens his mouth and is always ready for more! He seems pretty comfy in his highchair, and gets his lean on and props his foot up like a little pimp. And he is almost able to sit up on his own; I'm sure it will happen soon.

Well, that's all the updates for now. I'm off to bed for another week at work. We're still trying to get into a morning routine which allows us all to get out door on-time. :)

Letter to My Sweet Lil' Boy

Dear My Sweet Little Austin,

Monday is the big day. :( I will return to the workforce and you will venture to a whole different world at daycare. It makes me so sad that my time with you each day will be so limited now. But I have cherished every moment with you over the past 4 1/2 months. I feel so blessed to even had that much time at home with you. I know that daycare will be a bigger adjustment for me than it is for you. When we stopped by to drop off all your things yesterday, you already seemed very interested in the other kids and all the toys you're going to play with. I know that I will be thinking of you constantly all day at work, wondering what you're doing, missing that sweet little smile of yours, and just missing our funny conversations. I can't wait to get home in the evenings and spend every last moment with you before you drift off to sleep in preparation of another day with your new little friends. Just know that I think this is the best decision we could have made for the both of us. I honestly feel that going back to work (whether full-time or part-time) will make me a better mother to you in the long run. But I miss you terribly already and have tears rolling down my face as I type this. I love you more than you will ever know, and I truly believe that God made us wait a while to have a child so that he could bring us the most special baby boy of all. 'All things will happen in God's time.'-I repeated that saying many times over the past couple of years. Your Daddy and I are so lucky to have you in our lives.

I can't wait to hold you in my arms when I get off work everyday. When I pick you up and you give me the biggest smile, it will make my heart melt. I love you Chunky Monkey!

Love you always,
Mommy

He's Quite a Character!!

Our boy has become quite a little character these days. When he gets going, he talks like crazy and will make the funniest sounds. And he loves to reach out and grab anything, especially your face, too. Bath time is always a new adventure, and he really likes to play with his toys. See below where he managed to wrangle a stingray! :) And a friend from work bought him a 'Johnny Jump Up' that hangs from the doorway, and he loves to hang out on it. He does a little bouncing here and there, but really just enjoys chewing/sucking on the side of it. We started giving Austin cereal two weeks ago and he absolutely loves it!! Here are a few pics and videos of Austin lately. I go back to work in less than a week, so I'm sure I will have a really good post for you soon!!! Enjoy
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It's a Jungle Out There!

I thought I would give a quick update on my playroom project. Well, just as I suspected, this has been very time-consuming. Painting all the background and the animals on the wall has proven to be a very tedious job. And trying to entertain Austin all day hasn't allowed me much time to work on it. When he naps during the day, I usually try to shower, do laundry, or straighten up the house. So, I'm really only able to work on it a few hours in the evening after he goes to sleep. But it's coming along, and I'm pretty proud of myself. I still have alot left to do, but here are a few pics of my work so far! :)

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. :)

Jet-Lagged!!

Whew!!! I am so exhausted!! We got up at 5am on Friday morning to get loaded up, pick up my mom, and get to the airport. I left Austin in his jammies, so that we wouldn't disturb him and he could continue to sleep as long as possible. Got all checked in and it was time to say goodbye. Jordan picked up Austin from the stroller, turned away, was telling him bye, and started crying!! Why the hell does he want to get me all choked up before I leave?! I guess he thought our plane might crash or something (don’t get me wrong, the thought definitely crossed my mind). It was the sweetest thing though. Going through security was an adventure. Shoes off, liquids in ziploc, carseat through the x-ray, and collapse the stroller to JAM into the x-ray. Formula wasn't an issue because I brought powder and bought water once we got through security. Our flight wasn't full at all, and then when people around us saw the baby, a few of them moved. Whatever. I fed Austin as soon as we got on the plane so he was eating during takeoff. The he napped for about an hour. Then awake for 2 hours to play, and then slept the last 30 minutes during the landing. He was SO good!! I was so proud of him; not a peep out of him. But then we got off the plane, and my stroller (that I had checked at the gate right before we stepped on the plane) was nowhere to be found! Needless to say, I was in a pissed off mood. And the baggage people were no help at all. But we had to catch a bus for the hour ride from Boston to NH, so lugging the carseat with my chunky monkey and the luggage was interesting. Austin was great on the busride; loved staring out the window.

My Nana greeted us at the bus station and she was so excited to see us. Boy was it cold there!! She made homemade spaghetti and my mom's brother and sister came over for dinner. The airline finally called and said they found my stroller and it would be there by 10pm. Well, I didn’t get it til 2pm the next day, but was just thankful they found it. The few days we had we spent visiting lots of family and helping my aunt get settled into her new apartment and get it decorated. My mom and I ran around to a bunch of stores buying decor, rugs, and a kitchen set to surprise her. She was very thankful. Austin didn't sleep that well the first night, but he was just so out of his element and jet lagged. So the next two nights, we broke the rules and he slept in the bed with me and slept 8 hours. It's not his usual 10-11 hours, but I was thankful.

Then on Sunday, it was all over the news that a big snow storm was headed up the east coast. WTF?! I was kinda ready to get home and didn't want to have to stay another night. What can I say, I missed Jordan, Jordan missed Austin (and me, I hope), and I was ready to get Austin back home in his usual schedule. Well, this big storm dumped 16 inches of snow that day, the buses was delayed and many flights were canceled. But not ours. We did take off an hour late due to all the standby people from the canceled flights before us and de-icing the plane. I fed Austin while we waited to board the plane. I then changed two poopy diapers before we boarded. Then he slept for the first 2 hours of the flight.

When he woke, it was time to eat. But he had a wet diaper I needed to change first. We opted to change him in the seat (which we had done on the flight up) since it was a little turbulent and I was afraid to put him on the tiny changing table in the lav. !?
As soon as I opened his diaper, forceful stream of piss started going everywhere. (I usually cover his weewee with a cloth diaper so this doesn't happen, but I wasn't fast enough.) My seat, arm, and hand was covered in piss. As my mom and I are trying to compose ourselves from laughing so hard and trying not cause a scene, Austin starts to grunt. Aaaahh!!!! The diaper was already open. He started pooping! I was panicking, as poop got on the side of my jeans!! I cleaned up as best I could and then fed him. We played for a bit, and then I could smell he pooped again! Then the pilot announced 'flight attendants prepare for landing'. So, like the bad mother I am, I made him sit in it til we got off the plane. But he never cried on either flight and was the best baby ever!!! People on the plane even commented to us how wonderful he was being. Jordan was waiting for us at the baggage claim and was so glad to have us home. Then Austin projectile spitup all over his daddy. Welcome back, right

We are definitely glad to be back home. We gave Austin a bath when we got home last night, Jordan fed him, and then laid him down and he slept 10 hours again.