Our Weekend Fun

I've been wanting to post a little peek into a Saturday in the Staten home. So here it goes.

This past Saturday Liam woke us up at about 7:15. He's definitely a morning person and smiles, laughs, talks, kicks, and plays all morning. We got ready and headed out as a family to pick up an ExerSaucer for him. Oh my goodness, he loves it! He sits in it and plays with one toy at a time, moving in a circle and making sure to put every toy in his mouth before moving on to the next. It is so stinking cute.

We then went wandering through the Halloween store, but nothing caught our attention. We headed to West Ashley to go to the grand opening of The Teeny Turtle! Beth is so sweet and has finally opened her brick and mortar cloth diaper store. We got a couple of things including a Baltic Amber teething necklace. It looks so cute on him and I am really optimistic about it helping him!

Next on our agenda was a play date with our friends Miranda and Joel. Joel is just about 2 months older than Liam and they are so fun to watch. They still aren't interested in playing together, but they are becoming much more aware of each other and it's so sweet.

Poor Boogie Man was so tired after his playdate and took a little snooze on his mommy. :)

Liam has also figured out a new trick: eating his toes. The kid loves it. The second his diaper comes off the toes go into his mouth. It's really cute!

Yum, right?!?!?

Little Mister got a bath and lots of cuddles before bed:

So there you go, a day in the life as an update for all the family/friends that can't be here. :)

Happy Monday!

Long time, no blog. ;)

First things first: I won a giveaway! I won a book called "Sewing for Boys" from Dana at made. You should definitely go check her out (if you haven't already), she's brilliant and has some of the easiest to follow (awesome) patterns and tutorials! I am so excited to get started with more sewing! I'll post final results here, so be on the lookout.

Second: I love co-sleeping. No, really, I do. I have had so many people tell me that I should just let him cry so he'll sleep in his own bed or give me a pitying look when I tell them that Liam doesn't sleep through the night. However, I truly feel blessed to have him wake up and want to be next to me. I love that I can calm him and that I can fulfill all of his needs. Last night, Adam and I were headed to bed and Liam started to whimper. Adam went to him and brought him to our bed. He immediately latched on and filled his belly. Then my sweet boy rolled to his back and fell asleep...holding Daddy's hand and being cuddled by Mommy. I fell asleep so incredibly grateful for my boys.

I really want to post about my attachment parenting beliefs...but that will have to wait for another day. I just wanted to address that since I have received so many negative comments with regards to sleep. The way I see it is this: we both get more sleep with him in my bed, so why not? :)

Work is going well. I enjoy working at a credit union, despite missing being a stay at home mom. I am really working towards my goals of nursing school and am hoping to get my pre-reqs done this spring.

I guess that's all for now. One of these days I'll get some new pictures uploaded and maybe even post more regularly! For now, though, most of my free time goes to my boys. :) Good night, ya'll!

{Mostly} Wordless Wednesday

I told Adam that I wanted more pictures of Liam and me together...I'm normally the photographer. He started taking some and this is one of my favorites:

Sleepy Baby Love

August 12, 2011

Milestone Weekend

This weekend has been so neat! On Saturday, my sweet boy rolled over all by himself! Ok, I know that sounds silly...but when you're a mom...oh my goodness is it exciting! He's getting so strong and I'm so proud of him! He also laughed. Good night, what a fun time this is! I didn't catch any of the good laughter on video, but here's roll #3:

Isn't that so cool? :)

I think he might be teething a little bit. He's been drooly and a little fussy. Hopefully he gets some good rest tonight.

I have really enjoyed this 3 day weekend. I spent most of it at the house with my boys watching movies and cuddling...I couldn't think of anything I'd rather be doing, though! I'm sad to be headed back to work tomorrow, but we're going to make the best of it. I hope that you have had a refreshing weekend! Good night!

Being a Working Mom

So yesterday I finished my first full work week since last October. I used to love working. It gave me purpose, got me out of the house, and allowed me to contribute to our bank account. Now, though? Working still gets me out of the house and allows me to contribute to our family's funds (albeit not nearly as much as it used to when you factor in daycare costs), but I feel like it takes away from my purpose. My son's growth and development, health, and well-being are all I can focus on and it's beyond frustrating to feel as if I'm being taken away from that.

He has finally started accepting bottles, though, and I know he likes his daycare provider. I'm no longer having breakdowns (at least not most days!). We are adjusting like everyone said that we would. Now, dinner and laundry?? I'm way behind. I just can't bring myself to use my hour and a half of baby time to cook. I guess I need to figure that part out. I'm really looking forward to the time that training is over and I can go to part time hours...that means an extra 2 hours each day with my munchkin.

For now, I'm off to enjoy my 3-day weekend. Not sure what the plan is, but you can bet I'll be spending lots of time cuddling and playing with this guy (who is 4 months old now, by the way!):

Do you have plans for the holiday weekend?? 

Vision

Alright, ya'll. {I really want this southern "ya'll" thing to work for me! ;)} I'm sorry. I'm a bad blogger. I've always been a bad journaler...I guess this is the same. I'm working on it, though.

Adam graduated from Airman Leadership School last night! Woohoo! Five weeks of non-stop school and homework sucked, but it was well worth it. He has now been trained to be a supervisor and I'm sure will do an excellent job. At the graduation there was a guest speaker who talked about vision and it really struck a chord with me. He said that there are 4 points to vision:

1. How you see yourself
2. How you see others
3. How others see you
4. How you see the future

I loved what he said about point #2. He summarized it by saying that if you see your teenager as a dirtbag then he'll be a dirtbag, but if you see him as a shining star then he'll be a shining star. I think there's a lot of truth to that. I think that our kids need to see that we think they are great, that they have endless potential, and that they are incredibly and powerfully loved. If we expect their best, they will give it to us. If we set them up to fail...they will. I want to be the parent (and the spouse, friend, daughter, etc) that believes in my kids (or spouse, friend, etc...) and sets them up for success. I want them to know that I support them and love them and believe in them. I want to exude positivity and build up the people around me, especially my children. 

His words really made sense to me and I hope that Adam and I can be very intentional about seeing the best in our children and each other. It does a lot for your self worth when someone else shows you how much they believe in you.

I'm a little emotional...

Anxious.

I looked up it's definition to make sure that it was the perfect word to describe my feelings:

Experiencing worry, unease, or nervousness, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome

I feel like sometimes the word is used with a happy connotation, for instance "anxious to see the new movie coming out", etc. But I don't feel that sort of excitement or eagerness. I think the definition above fits my emotions to a tee right now.

Don't get me wrong. I want to get a job. I want to go to school. However, I don't want to leave my baby. I'm super attached to him. I have so many fears. What if this ruins our breastfeeding relationship? What if he won't take a bottle? What if he decides he prefers the bottle? What if he cries the entire time he's gone? What if he doesn't? What if I cry the entire time we're apart? Will he feel abandoned? Will I feel like a terrible mother just for doing what I think I need to do for our family and for my sanity? Will I be able to give my best to a job and school and my family?

I'm really stressing about making the right decision.

Someone tell me that this feeling goes away. Please.

Crafty Goodness & An Update

I have been itching to do something crafty, so I pulled out my sewing machine this week. I found some neat/easy patterns online and got started. First I made some sweet tie onesies using the pattern from here:

Please excuse the phone pictures! :)

Then I made cloth baby shoes to match the black tie. I'll make brown shoes when I get brown thread. I found the pattern here.

{Swoon}

I need to adjust the shoe pattern a bit, though. It says 0-6 months, but they are huge on Liam right now! I think I'll try to mess with it before I finish the brown shoes.

Modeling for Mommy

I can't wait to put the entire outfit on him for his 3 month pictures! I really love to make things for people...now if I can convince myself to put that machine to use more often... 

Okay, time for a quick life update. I've been trying to figure out what I want to do with my life (career-wise) for awhile now. While I love love love staying home with my sweet baby, I feel like I need to do something to help provide for our family. I want to feel fulfilled in another aspect of life. I am sad to have to find daycare and seriously concerned for my sanity when it comes to leaving my boy for any amount of time, but I think this is something I need to do. I am going back to school. I plan to finish my pre-requisites this year so that I can go to nursing school next year. Wish me luck guys...it's been two years since I graduated from college and I've never taken an online class. I'm a little anxious to say the least. I also have a job opportunity that has come up recently. I'm just praying that, if it is the right choice for our family, everything will come together smoothly. I'll update you more as it develops. 

Also, a quick Liam update! 

My baby is 3 months old! Here's where he stands:

• As of yesterday you is 14 lb 7.8 oz! So chunky! :)
• You just moved into 3-6 month and 6 month clothes.
• You love dance time...especially to Disney music like "Hakuna Matata" and "Under the Sea".
• You are still EBF and love nursing. You are easily distracted and often come off to smile at me...it kind of melts my heart.
• We're working on getting you to sleep in your bed all night. You've always spent part of the night in bed with me and I'll miss the cuddles, but you're a kicker and I'm kind of ready to have my bed back. 
• Bedtime is normally between 8:00 and 8:30. Most nights you'll wake up between 2:00 and 3:00 and then go back to sleep until somewhere between 6:00 and 8:00.
• Mornings are your favorite and you are so incredibly smiley!
• You love to talk to me, but you really love to talk to your Daddy. Seeing my boys together makes me mush.
• You still hate tummy time, but we're working on it.

I can't wait to see what next month brings! I love you sweet boy!

Alright, sorry for the super long post. We're going to spend some quality family time together and hopefully get some 3 month pictures done this weekend. I hope you enjoy your weekend, too! 

Beach day

I took Liam to a playdate at the beach today. I slathered him with sunblock, dressed him in his {far too big} swimwear, loaded up the car with towels, diapers, floaties (that did not get used), and more sunblock, and headed out...30 minutes late. No worries, though, I was not the last one there! Just goes to show how difficult it is to get anywhere on time with an infant.

Liam and I spent the day with 7 other babies, 7 other mommies, and 1 daddy. We sat under an umbrella and touched the sand with our toes. We wandered out into the water, where I got to have grown up conversations while he slept on my shoulder. I guess the sound of the ocean relaxes him. :) After about 2 hours at the beach the whole group headed to lunch, where we waited an hour and a half to be seated...surprisingly enough, the babies were all so good! We both had a great time and enjoyed a long nap when we got home!

You guys, my baby is so big. Big enough to take to the beach. I think I might cry myself to sleep. I have such mixed emotions about it, though. Part of me is really looking forward to him growing up. He is so fun: smiley, aware, ready to be able to do big boy things. He wants to move. He wants to talk. He wants to be independent. However, he still wants to cuddle me when he's sleepy. He still holds my hand and lets me kiss his sweet face. I guess, the only thing that I can do is enjoy every single minute of time with him now, be intentional in our interactions and playtime, foster that independence that he so badly wants so that he will have confidence to go forward without me one day {sob!}, and love on him as much as he will possibly let me!

I'm completely exhausted after such a fun, sunshiny, day. Good night!

Beautiful Beginnings

So, it's taken me a long time to decide to start my own blog. I've subscribed to and read so many blogs for awhile now and Adam keeps telling me that I should at least start my own...well, here goes nothing.

I think I've been afraid. I don't write eloquently or take beautiful pictures like Kelle or have an amazing story about growing a family through adoption like Love. I'm not funny like Modg or open and witty like Sally. I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to web design (no really...I don't have a clue what I'm doing...help?).

I realized, though, that I was too focused on what I am not rather than what qualities I do have. I am a lover. I am a crafter. I am a mama to Liam, who has brought so much happiness to my life. I absolutely adore that sweet boy and hope that he leads a life that is full of love. I am a wifey to Adam, a man who works hard so that our family doesn't have to go without and loves me even when I'm crazy. I am open minded. I am opinionated, but not judgmental. I have a desire to live my life with intention and I am working on that daily. I have a beautiful life and I want to document our everyday living so that we can look back on it and remember how amazing it is.

So this is it. This is me and my family. Open. Honest. Intentional. Welcome to our simple life.