Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Grandpa John - we wish you the happiest birthday! We can't wait for you to come see us!

XOXO

Ed Jr.

It IS a Small World

Our world is pretty small, but it feels HUGE. We don't do nearly as much as Ed Sr. and I used to do in an average week, but the few things we do - do are a big freaking deal.

We went to Alive at 5 last week. Ed Jr. was pretty good, minus a melt down when he got tired. We go to the Farmers Market in the stroller and last night we even went to a bar - yes we took the baby to a bar. Don't worry, he didn't have anything to drink. With the smoking ban in Helena, I guess that is more okay than when I was a kid?

Ed Jr. is also very excited about the johnny jump up on loan from the BEAUTIFUL Adrienne Mabel.

Party Dude

Boy howdy did we have a busy weekend, Friday night we went to meet Carter. He has a ton of dark hair and a very sweet face. Saturday we went to yoga and took a long walk with Adrienne, we borrowed her stroller. Uncle Ian came over after golf to see us and then we took off to Missoula to party at our Uncle Brian's new Clinton House.

We got to see all of our awesome Missoula uncles, Uncle Walt, Uncle Mikey, Uncle Brian, Uncle Heffe, Uncle Bad Brad and our mostest favorite, Auntie Liesel.We all stayed up way too late on Saturday night and had to relax at the Moogs on Sunday. It was an awesome Hawaiian Shirt kind of weekend.

Finally

The last of our baby friends was born on Tuesday evening. Helmet - er - I mean Carter is here! Finally Ed Jr. has another little boy to share all of his beautiful girlfriends with.

We made Carter's parents some yummy breakfast bars so we can go drop them off and hopefully sneak a peek at the newest Mr. Handsome.

That is it, none of the rest of our friends are pregnant - or at least as far as we know.

You be the judge

I am mildly obsessed with a few things - stop laughing Ed!

Sleep, actual time vs. perceived time and who Jr. looks like.

His momma.

Or his daddy?

I vote his daddy.

Happy Three Month Birthday!

Ahh The Laughter

Ed Jr. is a laughing fool these days. And to prove once again he is his daddy's boy, he loves to laugh at fart noises. To see if there was any of me in there, I tried explaining to him the hilarity of "How I Met Your Mother" last night. . .crickets, but if you make a fart noise, HILARIOUS.

The ceiling fan is also pretty funny. Don't quote me on this, but I may have seen Ed Sr. laugh at a ceiling fan once, yes I do believe there was whiskey involved.

Like the smiles, the laugh is very hard to capture on film. Here is our best attempt.




Ed Jr.'s recent milestones include reaching out for toys and grabbing them, rolling over from his stomach to back and grabbing his feet with his hands at his body's mid line.

Ed Jr. is also getting to be a BIG fan of baby massage. I signed up for a class where we go to learn how to massage babies. It is nice. He LOVES to have his feet rubbed. Face and head, not as much. According to the literature and videos we have to watch, infant massage helps him gain weight. Boy howdy is that working. He hasn't been weighed for a month, but if I was to guess, he weighs 16 HUNDRED POUNDS. In all seriousness, I bet he is weighing in at around 17 lbs. Heavy baby.

Tomorrow he will be 3 months old (13 weeks too!). When he was born and I was totally overwhelmed at how hard it was to care for a newborn, I kept saying to myself, I can't wait until he is 3 months old! He is going to be so awesome. At three months old, he is very awesome. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed every minute of his life, even when he screamed and screamed for a couple of hours when we first brought him home, I just knew that he would be a more social, more fun baby at 3 months and he is. When he smiles or laughs, I know he loves me. When he squirms his way over to snuggle with me in bed, I know he loves me. When he cries and I pick him up and he instantly quiets, I know he loves me. He loves his daddy too. That is what three months gets you, payback for all of your hard work.

12 Weeks

Or as long as it takes to recover from a temporary disability called pregnancy and childbirth.


Happy 12 week birthday to Ed Jr.


Unhappy return to work day for his mother.

I can't complain TOO much, at least I will only be part time, and until we can get a babysitter, part of my part time is from home. Still, since he was born I had hoped that something magical would happen to allow me to stay home with him full time. That magic moment has about 2 hours to happen. Waiting. . .

I can't say that before I was pregnant I ever would have considered being a stay at home mom, but then I had no idea what it was like to love some small child this much. Today for example, it was his first day watching Sesame Street, he loved it. I held him and we danced around to Oscar the Grouch singing a song about the Princess the Grouch. I feel like I am just hitting my mommy stride. I am just starting to get the hang of hanging clothes on the clothes line one handed, the other holding Jr. and keeping the sun out of his eyes.

No, I am not bored at home and no, I do not miss adult companionship, I am happy here. We are happy here.
I know that I will get used to going in to work again and my "maternity leave" will all seem like a distant memory. I am worried, however, that I forgot to kick back and enjoy it for all that it was worth. Perhaps putting my nose to the grindstone will cause me to remember these 12 weeks as the best in my life. How blessed I was to be able to take such a long time. How blessed I am to be able to afford to have this life in the first place.

Shouldn't you get flowers for having to go back to work, or something like that?

Bask in the Beauty

That is Adrienne Mabel.

Later Daddio!

Ed Sr. is leaving us for the weekend. Rafting in Idaho. I am sure he will have a blast. While Ed Jr. and I will be left holding down the fort. We are kind of sad about him leaving/not getting to go.

For me, it is hard to know what fun I am missing out on. For Ed Jr. it is sad, because weekends are when he gets a break from his mom and gets to spend some serious daddy time.

Last night I told Ed Sr. that I was 100% sure that I was going to get a super nice present for him leaving me at home alone this weekend. I can't wait to see what it is!

Look how big he is at 11 weeks versus 1 week.