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Baby Amelia's Baby Shower

At the beginning of May, myself and 3 other fabulous ladies hosted a baby shower for little Amelia Moran, Chris and Gizelle's baby that is now due in just a few weeks!

We had a pink and blue nautical theme and the other ladies were awesome to host with! So many good ideas!

 Gizelle has been obsessed with waffles her entire pregnancy so we had fried chicken and waffles to eat!

 A message in a bottle for baby Amelia.

We played one trivia game with Chris, but the only other "game" was an ABC book where everyone chose a letter and drew a picture. I found the idea online and used my Criket to cut out all the letters. It turned out super cute and less raunchy that I had anticipated with all the guys/keg/drinking. :)

Is this their future family? Lots of babies at the shower!

H is for Hand!

All of the hostesses and Gizelle!

 She's going to be here before you know it! Enjoy your last few weeks!

A Weekend of Firsts!

First time on a boat. First time meeting his aunt and uncle. First baseball game! A wonderful 3 day weekend!

Rollerskating Party

 

 When we got to the rollerskating rink, we were behind a few 7 year olds who were attending their friend's birthday party. Gift bag and tissue paper in tow.

We were doing the same. Except Cara is 32. And awesome.

No skates in Lincoln's size.

But they did in Isabel's size!

I don't think I have been rollerskating since I was 12 or so, but you don't forget it! The only thing that could have made it better was if the Skate Dojo served beer. They should work on that. It was a fun Saturday afternoon. I didn't even know that skating rinks still existed!

Wine Fest 2013

Last year I was pregnant at wine fest, but didn't know it yet. This year Gizelle was big and pregnant, she knew it. It wasn't as warm and sunny as last year, but that was probably better since we brought Lincoln too. We just back that stroller right up to the tasting tables. Why not?

Mr. and Mrs. Unibomber joined us. :) Love the Oeschleins!

 Lincoln as a big hit with the ladies. While I was in the restroom, groups of ladies would swarm Glenn, so I'm told. He didn't seem too upset by it.

 It was a fun day enjoying Norfolk and our friends!

My First Mother's Day

Mother's day was pretty low key and it was great. I just wanted to spend time with my family. I did ask Glenn to put shelves in one of the closets for me, though. "Doesn't sound very mother's day-y to me". My response was, "Organizing AND home improvement/DIY". Sounds like me. So we did do that.

And he made me french toast. Something he knows that I love, but he's not a huge fan so we don't have it very often. Thanks love.

My only other request was that Glenn take a few pictures of Lincoln and I on my first mother's day.

I think they're pretty cute. Mostly cause my baby is pretty cute, in my opinion. :)

Yes, I matched our outfits and yes, his shirt has anchors on it.

Happy Mother's Day

I'm a week late, but I just uploaded this picture from my camera and I love it. My mom and I are always taking pictures of other people and ALWAYS forget to take a picture of the two of us. Like my wedding day for example, no pictures of just the two of us. What was I thinking? Mom and Dad came to visit at the end of April before I went back to work. We drove down to Raleigh to see Grandpa for a few days as well.

Happy Mother's day to the best mama. I hope I can be as good an example to Lincoln as you have been to me. I love you!

3 Months

As Lincoln gets older, he is more and more fun. He smiles like crazy now and has the biggest open mouth smile that just melts my heart. It makes all those tough moments worth every second for just a little smile. He also has started to giggle a bit. It's more of a chuckle, but it is the best.

Month 3 also ended my maternity leave. If you're reading this, you've read my trials and tribulations about working. I never thought I would have such a hard time going back to work, but I've never knew what it was like to be a mom. It's the hardest and best thing all at the same time.

I honestly think that my post-partumness finally ended around month 3 as well. I finally feel like my self again and that I can handle being a mom. It has probably also taken me that long to figure out what the heck I'm doing so perhaps they go hand in hand with feeling comfortable taking care of another human being that depends solely on me (for nutrition) and Glenn and me for everything else. It's a lot of pressure! I think we're doing alright though.

I've learned to accept that my baby is not going to be a 3 hour napper and I can read all the books in the world, but he is who he is and he likes to take 30-60 min naps 4-5 times a day. Thank goodness he will take them in his carseat, in the stroller and just about wherever we are. Today he took a 90 min nap on a mattress on the floor in his soon-to-be-best-friend's nursery-to-be. I'll take it. Now, he just needs to learn to do it at day care. 

Daytime sleeping aside, he is a wonderful, laid back baby. Daycare told me yesterday that they "kind of neglect him at times" because he is so content. Unless he is tired or hungry, he's pretty happy. I rocked him during my lunch break for an hour one day and he was totally content, but just wouldn't fall asleep. Turns out he had a 10 day in the making poop in his pants. No crying, just hanging out! Love our kid.

And now, the best part. More pictures! Lincoln is going to grow up thinking my cell phone is attached to me (which it mostly is) cause it's in his face all the time. Sorry bud! He's getting so big already. His 4-month appointment is just a few weeks away.

9 Weeks

10 Weeks

11 Weeks

12 Weeks

And in case you missed it...

Month 1

Month 2

Don't bug me, I'm sleeping

Lincoln has been doing a lot of sleeping at home recently since he is still adjusting to day care. On the bright side, he slept through the night for the first times on Saturday and Sunday! Happy Mother's Day!

At first I thought Glenn had taken care of him since it was my special day, but baby boy gave me a gift himself. It was fabulous and just what I've been wanting for over 6 months. 

Week 2 of work went better than week 1. He even took a 90 minute nap one day. We haven't repeated that again, but I'm hopeful. Glad tomorrow is Wednesday!

Some Light

So I made it through my first week of work. It was hard. So much harder than I even imagined it could be. My little man hasn't been away from my side for more than a few hours and then I had to let strangers take care of him for a whole day. There were tears. There was worry. I didn't say much my first day back. I just kept my head down and watched the clock til I could go see my bug at lunch. What a tired bug he was. Red eyes, cranky boy. He'd slept 20 minutes all morning.

I came home and cried to Glenn (along with Lincoln since he was so tired) convinced that I was going to quit my job a few days later. I'm still not totally convinced, but today Lincoln took his two 45 minute morning naps at daycare like he does at home! Some light at the end of the tunnel! When I fed him at lunch, he was a happy, smiley baby. He seemed the same at daycare as he did at home. He still fell asleep on the way home and has been napping for the last 90 minutes, but it is a start. When I picked him up today he was asleep despite the noise.

I have a true understanding of why a nanny is a miraculous thing to afford and come by. If my job allowed us to afford one, I would hire one in a second, but my job isn't that great.

I know the easier option would be to stay at home. Lincoln would be happy all the time. I enjoy working though. I enjoy the satisfaction of working and fulfillment I get from it, but it is so hard to leave him. I still don't know what I want. I told Glenn I would give it a month before I made any drastic decisions.

You should see me when I leave the house in the morning. I am a sherpa. My lunch, Lincoln's meals, the breast pump bag, a cooler for pumped milk, my purse and the carseat. The diaper bag just hangs out in the car now. Yikes. I have to run through a checklist every evening to get everything ready for the next day so that, on Mondays and Fridays, we can be out the door by 6:20. Tuesdays and Thursday by 7:20. Thank god for Wednesdays.
- Pick out my clothes- no time to waste
- Pick out Lincoln's clothes so Daddy can dress him
- Pack my lunch
- Pump/make Lincoln's bottles
- Get all the bags together.

It's a process, but it's getting easier every day. I wish we were living back home during weeks like this. Well one, gramma and papa could help watch Lincoln occasionally and 2. It seems more of my girlfriends from home are working mamas. I suppose it is our transient lifestyle, but fewer Navy wives are also working mamas.

Now I just wish Lincoln would wake up, doesn't he know that I want to hang out? Glenn is working late though, perhaps he is waiting for daddy to get home. :)

Stories

Lincoln is making lots of fun noises now. Here's a video of what he's got to say!

I am loving today as well! My new schedule at work only has me working 30 hours so I have Wednesdays completely off. A little reprieve in the middle of the week. It is the best! We're off to the store and then work around the house. We're throwing a baby shower on Saturday for 30+ people!