2 months!

Dear Jack,

Happy 2 months baby! I cannot believe that we have had the blessing of having you with us for 2 months now! It seems like we've known you forever, yet also that we just brought you home from the NICU yesterday. You are the biggest blessing we've ever known. Your daddy and I love to watch you as you kick, squirm, smile, laugh, eat, and sleep. We've never experienced such joy. Right now at two months you are learning so much. Recently you have spent your days fighting sleep because you are learning and playing so much. You love to play with your daddy. You give him the biggest smiles, and when he has been with you for awhile and I come in you smile so big at me, too. And it melts our hearts. Every time. You love to eat and do it often. In your first month and a half you wanted to be held all the time. Now you like to be more independent. You love to be on your back and kick and "throw punches" as daddy says. You love looking at toys above your head. You have grown so much this month-- every day you are doing something new and exciting. You recognize Lady and Eli's noises, especially their barks. We love every little thing that you do, and we are so thankful to be your parents. Thanks for loving us like you do! We love you, our little Jackaphur!

Love,

Mommy

ten for thursday.

1. I have the most awesome video of Jack laughing and playing. I must upload it soon to share.

2. My want list is growing long, and I am struggling with this right now as it just keeps getting longer.

3. In connection with my want list, I have several hobbies that I want start. Tommy helped me prioritize them. Still waiting for when I will have time to start. Maybe after I finish my thank you notes and then read a book.

4. We have been so immensely blessed! We are blown away by how many people love us and love Jack! The cards and gifts we have received are wonderful and we are so thankful. On that note, I have been enjoying my boy rather than working on thank you notes. Lately, it's been bothering me that I haven't done them. Please know that I am so thankful and will eventually finish those notes!

5. After I finish my thank you notes I want to read a book. Any suggestions?

6. Right now Jack is sleeping and Lady is sleeping/watching over him. I love our family!

7. I have an obsession. Chickfila. I've avoided it for so long because they fry in peanut oil. Turns out they are very allergy friendly! They still fry their chicken in peanut oil but they train their staff well about cross-contamination. They also have many menu items that are "safe choices", and they now fry their waffle fries in canola oil. Shibby! Also, one of the only places where I can get a milkshake! Their flavors are chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, cookies & cream. No nut flavors! Therefore, no cross contamination to worry about. While I was pregnant this discovery was amazing. Especially when I couldn't keep much down besides a milkshake. Now that I'm not pregnant, not so amazing. Sure I need extra calories for nursing but still... not as ok.

8. Wow, I just wrote an entire paragraph on Chickfila. Can you guess what I had for dinner tonight and what's waiting for me in my fridge?

9. Now that Jack is here my awareness of what I eat affecting him is so much more real. While I knew what I ate mattered while I was pregnant, it was hard to fathom how much so. Now that I look at his sweet face everyday I want to eat the best things for him. Oh, and it also probably helps tremendously that I don't throw everything up anymore!

10. I had a great realization this week! My baby boy will only be this little for a very short time but work will always be around. 12 hours is the perfect compromise for me. No more. I'm sharing that decision with some other people very soon.

brownie wednesday.

Do you ever have those days where you just want/need to eat? I have been hungry all day! I'm thankful for my excuse of nursing my baby that sucks the energy out of me causing me to need to replete frequently; however, today has been above and beyond that normal. (Wow, that was a ridiculous sentence!)

Anyway, I totally believe in emotional eating. I've heard people say it doesn't exist and that we should be able to mind-over-matter anything and not take that bite. I do believe that there are ways to beat the perpetual emotional eating, don't get me wrong, but I also believe that some days you've just gotta EAT!




So I deem today BROWNIE WEDNESDAY. Why? Because I can. Because I left my baby today to go work for 8 hours. Because I didn't get a lunch break. Because I commuted in this Washington DC traffic which shouldn't even be called traffic but should have a more harsh name. Because I love chocolate. And because I don't have any ice cream in my house.



ps - please don't take this as whining. i love my baby, my job, my life but some days, a girls just gotta have some chocolate.

baby days.

Baby days pass by so quickly! I know everyone tells you this while you're pregnant and when they see you with the little one, but it's hard to understand just how quickly until you're in it. I'm sitting here in the office and I just noticed that my calendar in here is still on May. And I've realized that life has been like a speeding train since May. And in just a few days, Jack will be 2 months and then July will be over. It's been such a quick summer- although I know weather wise it will be summer for much longer.

My boys falling asleep.

And a close-up of my sweet baby boy.

ps - I do have posts of different varieties coming up-- promise! Although I could talk about my little guy all the time.

pps - Thanks to those of you who've been wanting to comment but couldn't. And thanks for letting me know it wasn't working. I'm working on getting it fixed.

things i've learned.

I've learned so much in the last 7 weeks. By the way, my baby is 7 weeks old today. Wow! Here are just a few of my many lessons learned:


- My baby LOVES country music! Loves it! We discovered this by accident and now listen to it much!

- My diapering skills have improved much.

- Pee goes really really far!

- Car rides can be a very good thing.

- Never underestimate the power of a nice bath. Little man LOVES bath time with his Dad!

- We have an AWESOME baby!

- My puppies make me laugh every day and they love this little boy.

- Netflix is great!

- And finally, leaving baby boy for my first full day of work was really hard but made so much easier by leaving him with an awesome person!