30.

Today I am thirty years old.

I've been looking forward to this day for a couple of reasons. 

First, for years I've been told I don't look old enough to be a high school teacher, much less to have been teaching as long as I have been.  "You're so young," has been a popular statement among my co-workers, friends, and even complete strangers.  Those statements began tapering off with pregnancy and mommy-hood, but now I'm 30.  Yes, that's young when you consider the big picture, but no longer am I fresh out of college, new to my job, new to marriage.  As one of my students said the other day, "anyone over 25 is really old."  Yes! I'm old! (But not out of touch, hopefully.) 

Second, I have full expectations that my 30s are going to be better than my 20s.  My 20s haven't been bad; on the contrary, there has been a lot of really incredible stuff.  Graduating college, getting a job, becoming a better teacher, finding my man, marrying him, being best friends with my sister as we both are grown up, having my first baby. 

But they've also been hard.  Marriage is really hard, did you know?  Mommy-hood and parenthood is really hard, too.  Both of our families have gone through a lot in the last few years, and it's been a challenge at times. 

But I hope in the One who gave me this life, and I know that as I continue to grow, my 30s are going to reflect that and (hopefully) Him.  Which means that although I am sure there will still be some lots of hard stuff, I'm going to consider it joy and look forward to the opportunity to become the woman I long to be. 

Today hasn't been a particularly great day, so far.  We're in one of those difficult seasons.  But I choose to look forward to this next decade with anticipation, with joy, with delight in the things to come.

Oh, and as for my 30 before 30 list, well, I'm amending that to a "30 before 31" list, okay?  It's my birthday, I can do what I want. :)

4 Months

Will officially turned four months old onTuesday, the 24th, the same day his Great-Grandpa Bob turned 97 years old.  Grandpa Bob loves being with Will, so we made sure to go over to my parents' house for Gpa's favorites: spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and carrot cake for dessert.  Grandpa gave Will lots of kisses, and Will got lots of attention (as always).  I'd say it was a very successful "birthday" for both!

Development:  We went to the pediatrician on Thursday (whom, by the way, I absolutely love.  We actually see the PA in our office most of the time, and she is just incredible.  The doctor that is technically ours was also my childhood pediatrician, but as she is super in-charge of the whole medical group, she doesn't work too many days a week and is harder to schedule) for Will's four-month Well-Child Check. 

Will weighed in at 13.5 pounds, three more than his two-month check up.  He's still in the 30% for weight, but that's okay, because he's been consistent in his growth all along.  His height moved up to the 35% percentile as he has officially reached two-feet tall, being exactly 24 inches long.  No wonder he doesn't fit as cozily anymore!

In other developmental areas, this was a big month for Will.  He's learned to roll onto his side, so I bet to his tummy isn't too far away.  He can see you from across the room and smile at you.  He discovered his voice - the first few days of that were non-stop cooing.  And, in the last week, he's started reaching for toys and is fascinated by their bright colors and fun textures.  We didn't really have many toys, just a clip on elephant for his carseat, but a friend sent a package that had some fun little squishy blocks that crinkle, so we're set.  His little legs are in constant motion - we have no idea where he thinks he's going, but he's apparently going to be a sprinter, cyclist, or swimmer based on his movement.  And he's working really hard at taking the pacifier out of his mouth and putting it back in on his own.  After a while of not quite being able to get it, he usually sticks his fingers right in, which brings me to the drooling.  Yes, we've started the slobber-fest that apparently indicates pre-teething.... but no signs of any actual teeth yet.  Thank. Goodness.

Personality: This little boy wants to be a happy little boy, he truly does.  Sometimes, when he's starting to get unhappy about something, he'll still smile at you even in the midst of his tears, before he gives in.  He is a very smiley baby and is content much of the time.  He likes to be social and visit with others, and he drinks in the world around him.

But when he's unhappy, well, he is unhappy.  As in screaming.  Usually it's because he has a problem of some sort and thinks we should be able to fix it instantly, and when we can't, he tells us about it.  He tells us all about it.

Sleep: Right after our three-month update, Will moved from our room to his own room.  We'd been sleeping in the basement, due to the fact that the smoke from the Waldo Canyon fire kept us from being able to open the windows and cool off our near-90 degree house, and when we moved back upstairs, it seemed silly to re-set up the pack'n'play.  So to his room he went.  He's really adjusted quite well, I think.

The other big change, and again, this only in the last week, is that we've stopped swaddling him.  He was too big for the swaddle we had and was continuously "busting out" of a blanket swaddle and waking himself up.  A friend gave us a Woombie, which we love and would still be using, except for the fact that it's been so hot in his room when he goes to bed that I didn't feel right about it.  He was sweating and crying and just seemed miserable, so we decided to tough it out and let him learn to fall asleep unswaddled, as well as to put himself back to sleep if he wakes up.

It's going.  There have been some rough moments, some "this is breaking my heart" moments, and a couple of "I should just go get him" moments.  But overall, he's been doing really well.  In the big scheme of things, he doesn't cry as long as I have heard many babies do, and he definitely is getting it.

The first night time sleep lasts anywhere from four to six hours before I feed him, and then the second one has been getting longer, also.  I'm hoping we're getting to a place where he's going to be on a good schedule for the school year.  Naptimes are less regular - he still is only a cat-napper, so he takes several little naps throughout the day.  The pediatrician said that might be in his favor when he starts day care - many babies who are long nappers have trouble taking their regular naps in that setting and get over-tired, so he might be in like already being a cat-napper.  We'll see.


Overall, I feel pretty good about where we are sleep-wise.


Eating:  Still doing the pump-to-bottle thing most of the day and nursing at night, with some nursing or formula during the day, depending on the situation.  We're trying to stock up on frozen breast milk for day care.  He's slowly starting to spread out his eating times.  By that I mean he can now wait two and a half or three hours to eat, instead of every two.  None of those four of five hour periods for us.  I was afraid he might be eating too much as a result, but since his weight gain was consistent and good, I'm not worried anymore.  He'll eat as he needs it, I think.  We're not quite ready for solid foods yet - maybe in a month or so.  Husband did let Will lick a banana though; my-oh-my was his facial expression hilarious.  Total disgust.  His mama agrees.

Likes/Dislikes: Will likes his scrunchy-crinkly blocks.  The elephant on his car-seat.  His Graet-Grandma Harriett, who got him to giggle a lot while she was here last week.  Doggies (his new fav!).  Apparently, watching the Olympics. 

Actually, there isn't much he actually doesn't like, except being hungry, being tired, and having tummy troubles.  Really, who can blame him?

Milestones: His first "road-trip" up to Estes Park.  Many of the aforementioned developmental things, like noticing toys, sleeping in his own room, more and more control of his head, and even pulling himself up almost towards a sitting position.  Noticing his first baby, his cousin Henry.  His first hike, his first trip to the pool, his first rodeo (all chronicled in this post).

 

Mommy Update: I'm doing pretty well.  Gearing up to go back to work, and mostly excited about it.  I know leaving him is going to be hard, though, so I'm trying to prepare myself for that.  Weight and health-wise, I'm not doing too much better, but I'm also not doing too much worse.  Getting into meal-planning and grocery shopping to assist my eating habits and hoping to get to do some exercise a couple times a week once we establish good bedtime routines with the new school schedule.

Catching Up: A Mountain Trip

My family has never been the "family vacation" type.  It's not really that we didn't want to, but rather that, given the chance, we'd rather go see our extended family, the same mentioned in this post yesterday.

We have, however, taken family trips to this place for more than twenty years.

Welcome to Rams Horn Village, nestled near the town of Estes Park and at the base of Rocky Mountain National Park, one of my family's favorite places to be.  My grandma found Rams Horn many years ago, and we've stayed there nearly every summer for practically forever.  It's tradition now.  We go hiking in the park (we have several favorite trails), we walk the town and do a little light shopping, we eat good food, we go to the pool if the weather is cooperative, and we rest.  It's awesome, and one of the things we most look forward to each summer.  Some of our favorite memories come from our trips here, especially those with my grandparents.


A couple of weeks ago was Will's first trip to Estes Park to stay at Rams Horn.  He, his Nonna (my mom), Grandad (my dad), Tia (my sister), and I headed up midweek, but poor Daddy (Husband) had to wait until Friday night to join us, due to his job.  The weather was pretty much gorgeous, but unfortunately they are doing major roadwork in RMNP, cutting off access to most of the trails we usually hike (and the ones I felt I could do with Will strapped to my front).  Still, we were able to drive around the park, watch as a wedding party took pictures at the Illuvial Fan, and hike to Alberta Falls, one of our favorite easy hikes.  We even saw a huge herd of elk... a first for all of us!  We have only ever seen a few at a time before.

Not only did Will go on his first hike, but he also went to his first rodeo.  Estes Park is home of the Rooftop Rodeo, voted the PRCA's Best Small Rodeo.  We love the rodeo, and were pretty bummed when we discovered our Estes Park trip coincided with the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo, meaning we'd have to miss out.  Sister and I were pretty estatic to see that the Rooftop Rodeo was going on while we were there, though, so rodeo-ing we went.  On a whim I'd thrown this little outfit in the suitcase, so Will was the best-dressed in our family.  It was a great little rodeo, with some of the best bucking horses I have ever seen and an incredible view - Lake Estes and the Rocky Mountains as the backdrop.

Will's other first was a couple of trips to the pool.  He only spent a few minutes in the pool each time, and I'm not totally sure he liked it, but he didn't hate it, either.  What he did hate was getting out - he cried and cried - but he cries getting out of the bathtub, too.  He was pretty stinking cute in his little bathing outfit, though.

The rest of the time was spent hanging out, walking around town, and just being together as a family.  We did absolutely no work and were able to, I think, truly get some much needed rest before things get going again.  Wish we could have stayed a few more days!

Catching-Up: Family Visit

As I get ready to head back to work in a couple of weeks, I am working on getting us into some good and healthy routines, and getting back into the swing of things, including blogging.  Before I get into anything new, I have a few posts coming to catch you up on our summer.

 Tia and her favorite nephew.

First, we were so excited to have my Aunt Mary, Uncle Blair, cousin Caroline and her hubs Jake, and their baby boy Henry, come to visit at the beginning of July.

 Caroline, Jake, and Henry on the porch.

I've posted about Caroline before - she's been one of my bestest best friends since birth, literally.  Exactly five months older than I am and with best friend moms (sisters), she and I have spent countless hours playing, dreaming, swimming, walking, talking, growing up, and living life together.  Despite the distance between our homes, we've stayed close.  Her little boy is just over three months older than Will, so we are already planning their best-friendship, too.   Jake, Caroline's husband, is a welcome addition to our family, and we were really glad he was able to come on this visit, too!

My aunt and uncle come out a few times a year, since Mom and Aunt Mary's dad, my grandpa, is here and can't really travel.  We have always been pretty close, but I would say the last few years have been the best - being an adult-kid adds a new level to the relationship.  Since they've been here often, they have also gotten to know Husband.  He loves being around them, too.  We're just comfortable and happy together.

 The two Nonnas and their grandsons.

This visit was different than those of the past - two babies really does change everything.  We still, however, made sure the best part of our family time still happened: breakfast and coffee at the kitchen counter and time on the front porch.  Will and I made sure to leave our house early enough that we wouldn't miss that oh-so-important time.  From pancakes to scones to Mom's incredible biscuits and many, many cups of coffee, we indulged and enjoyed. 

The men got to play golf and catch a couple of movies, while the ladies did a little shopping, a lot of chit-chatting, and, of course, a ton of baby snuggling and smiling. 

Henry and his Nonna, and Will with Caroline... he was having a rough day, but he still loved her!

Will and Henry definitely took notice of each other, and Will even picked up a few tips from Hen over their few days together (read: Will discovered his voice and started coo-ing non-stop after hearing Henry babble and laugh all the time.  He also began drooling, in apparent effort to mimic his cousin's "drool bombs."  Makes sense he would want to copy his cousin, as I always wanted to copy mine.)  We can't wait to see how the interact the next time they are together, when both are a little older!

Henry also got to meet his great-grandpa Bob, who turns 97 tomorrow.  (I'll be posting on him, don't worry.)  Grandpa loved seeing Henry and Will - we think the babies give him a new lease on life.

Henry and his Great-Grandpa Bob

Family is definitely one of the most important things to me, and this particular family some of my favorite people in the world.  So glad we got to spend a little time together and have our two baby boys meet and begin what we hope is a lifelong friendship, just like ours!

 All kinds of cousins!

Who Knew?

Who Knew That...

... some babies don't like to take naps for more than 30 minutes at a time, making it nearly imposisble to get anything of substance done?

... sneaking all sorts of bits of chocolate and other things here and there during pregnancy would indeed make it a little lot more challenging to lose the preggo-weight (read my plea for accountability here?

... a bedroom could seem so much bigger when you take the pack-and-play away and have the baby sleep in his own room?

... making a meal plan for the week and buying the groceries accordingly actually helps you stick to the budget and eat healthier?

... your house is never quite as picked up as you'd like it to be when you have a child, no matter how old they are, I'm guessing?

... you can memorize some of those children's books pretty quickly?  The sun has set not long ago, and everybody goes below... I don't even read that book anymore, I just recite it as we rock before bed.  (The Going to Bed Book, by Sandra Boynton)

... figuring out how to cut your spending to find a seemingly exorbitant amount of money to pay for daycare is quite challenging?

... coming up with creative, non-mommy things to blog is also challenging, since my day is mostly mommy-ish?

... that, even if I wanted to tell you about something non-mommy-ish, like the yummy homemade lettuce wraps with quinoa, chicken, and veggies I made yesterday, it would sort of be pointless because I didn't think to get a picture because I barely had time to make them?

...watching your baby's face light up in a huge smile when he sees you could so totally make your day?

... that Jesus still has a lot to say to you, if you'd just take the time to listen?

... and that He doesn't mind if your quiet time is interrupted frequently by attending to the baby; He still wants to talk?

... it is nearly impossible to grasp what life is going to be like when I go back to work and Husband starts school?

... how much I would miss Husband when he went back to work, even though I was (am) glad he was able to get a job?

... how freaking adorable it is to see my son sleeping in his crib, a little baby in a big bed, with his arms flung wide out of the blanket since he is apparently incapable of falling asleep without being swaddled but also incapable of not wiggling free?

... it's hard not to wish I had more followers or comments and wonder how I could grow my blog, while simultaenously stubbornly refusing to take the time to find, go to, read, and comment on others' blogs, which I think might be the trick?

... that I would be annoyed with myself for caring about something stupid like followers and comments?

... that the Bumbo may not be something our Peanut likes, even though you'd think he would?

... that DVR would be one of my almost favorite-ist things, especially upon discovery of some fun Food Network shows?

... that I end up staying awake way later than I should to grab some "me" time and put the house to sort-of-rights after Will goes to sleep, so I secretly sometimes wish his bedtime was a little earlier?

... that I could easily come up with a bunch more things I didn't apparently know?


You probably knew.... but I'm just learning them. 

Announcing.....

William John C

little Will

Born: Saturday, May 24, 2012 at 10 am

Weight: 6 lbs, 15 ounces

Length: 19 inches

More to come soon.  Can't wait to share Will's Birth Story and the tales of surviving the first week of Mommy-hood.  But right now, I need to hang out with the Peanut, because he's finally here!

Oh, Hello.

Each day this week I've said, "I'll blog today.  I'll do it during/after/when I ____________________."  But each day has found itself full of something.  The times I planned to blog were usurped by other things I needed to do, or in the evening, when I could have blogged, the effort to turn on the computer from my crashed out position on the couch seemed herculean.  As a result, no posts.

But today is Friday, and if you can't procrastinate a little during your planning period on Friday (yes, even if you are going to be leaving for maternity leave soon and have a million things to do), when can you procrastinate?

So, hello.

I have my Decaf Caramel Macchiato in hand (we were all out of coffee at home - I seriously need to do the grocery shopping - we ate out all week, too), and thought I'd share 9 things about life with you on this 9th day of March.

1. We're in the month of our due date (the 31st, so really, it could be March or April.)  Officially, I'll be working for two more weeks as of yesterday.  We don't have school on the 23rd and the following week is Spring Break, so there are exactly 10 more days of work for me, including today.  My feelings on that subject are incredibly diverse - I'm excited, sad, a bit nervous, busy.... and more.

2. Last week was Sadie's Week (our second semester version of Homecoming Week).  We had spirit days, a Peach Fuzz Boys Volleyball Tournament, a huge assembly complete with decorations, a Mr. PC competition, and, of course, the big dance itself.  In all, I spent approximately 25 hours at school AFTER school between Thursday night - Saturday night.  Needless to say, I stayed in bed on Sunday.  But the week was great, my StuCo kids were awesome, and we had a T.O.N. of fun.

3. We just mostly finished decorating our baby room the other night - I'm pretty excited about it.  I'm going to gather the best pictures that document each stage of the process (from scraping the popcorn off the ceiling to hanging the final piece on the wall) and show you in a post soon.  Until then, while you wait, I'll just say this - browns, greens, monkeys... C.U.T.E.

4.  I had two baby showers back-to-back the weekend before last.  Both were very lovely, and Husband, Baby C, and I were completely blessed.  I've spread out some of my favorite pictures from both throughout this post.

5. I am ridiculously excited for tomorrow.  I'm planning on spending some time with my sister as I drag her (I mean, as she comes with me) to get a haircut - I desperately need one as my hair looks good about 1% of the time - and to a few more to get a few more things with the generous gift cards we received.  I think this will be my last "big" shopping trip before Baby C comes.  Anything else will be things I didn't know I needed or incidentals.  I'm also planning on cooking a few things to put in the freezer to make life a little easier (plus, I'm sick of take-out).  And, if all that goes well, I'm going to clean the bathroom.  It's just plain gross. 

6. I may or may not be planning Words with Friends with several people, but, due to the fact that I don't have time to really think about the words I'm playing, losing horribly.  I'm also playing Scramble, but only with random opponents, because I'm so bad at it, I don't want my friends to know.

7. I love my state.  It was warm and sunny for the first few days this week (although I didn't get to really enjoy that as I was inside all day), then cold and windy (and I mean cold) the last two days, and today is back to sunny and the weekend is supposed to be lovely.  I never want to live somewhere where it's always one way or another.  This way you get a little bit of everything whenever you might need it.

8. I'm still obsessed with how freaking cute my dog is.  Seriously, I love her probably a little two much.  We're totally spoiling her right now since we think her little world is going to be rocked in the near future.

9.  I've got some thoughts rolling around in here about some big God stuff, and the things I've been learning, continuing to learn, being beat over the head with, etc.  That's a whole different post worth of things, but the bottom line is, it's pretty amazing seeking relationship and knowing it's a mutual, real, tangible, life-changing thing, not just some mystical band-aid.  More on my heart soon, I hope.


My hope is to be able to blog a little more consistently - it's good for me, as long as I keep myself out of the land of "no one likes me/follows me/comments on my posts" - but since I'm taking each day a a day at a time these days, we'll see.

For now, Happy Friday!