Maternity Leave

My maternity leave officially ends this week.  On Monday I will be sending my sweet baby boy off to daycare.  To say that I'm not anxious and sad would be an understatement.  But honestly, I'm ready for some something else to do.  Don't get me wrong, I've loved spending lazy days with James and organizing my house like crazy...but I'm ready to be around other teachers and my students.  I'm ready to get back into the classroom.  I just want to shorten the school day to 10:00am-2:00pm.  Who's with me?

"You mean I can't fall asleep in your arms while you watch too much tv???"

My 8 weeks off can be summed up into two words: stretchy shorts.  That should give you an idea of my comfort level over these last 56 days.  I barely ever put on real jeans or shorts.  My exceptions were when I ran up to school for lunch with Amanda, church, and the occasional dinner/lunch at a restaurant.  My body is about to go into shock when I introduce dress pants and shoes other than flip flops back into my wardrobe.  

Evan's imagination has been running wild these past couple of months.  It's so fun to get a glimpse inside his mind.  He spent a good afternoon hopping around the house telling me he was a bunny.  He even asked for carrots.  I'm counting this as his daily vegetable intake.  Success!

Matt has a pretty lengthy commute with his new job.  It has me nervous about returning to work because he doesn't get home until later than we are both used to.  I'm trying to work out in my mind how I will pump, pick the kids up, feed James, cook dinner, and keep my sanity every evening before Matt gets home.  Thankfully, Matt takes on bedtime duty each night.  It's his special time with the boys and it gives me a moment to breathe and relax for a little bit.  I definitely count myself as a lucky girl to have a husband who comes home and doesn't skip a beat.  He just jumps right in and takes over.  Usually Evan is desperate for more attention after sharing the attention with James. 

EVERY time my mom comes to visit, she brings chocolate cupcakes for Evan.  She makes a big batch at home and sticks a ton in the freezer so I can grab one for him and give him a treat each day.  She also brings me simple meals to stick in the freezer that she made at home (homemade spaghetti sauce, taco meat, etc.)  I have decided that cooking is her love language.  Every time she comes we list out 4-5 recipes we want to try.  She takes me to the grocery store, buys all the ingredients, and we spend nap times cooking.  

Thankfully I have a nice freezer stash of meals to start off my week back at work.  Wish me luck!

It's Fall!!

I'm beyond thrilled that Fall is finally here.  It is by far my favorite season of the year!  One of our favorite October traditions is to visit our favorite little pumpkin patch.  They have animals you can feed, a hay maze, a hay ride, food, and of course...pumpkins!  This is our third year in a row to go and it has turned into a tradition of sorts.

October 2013

October 2014

Check out how much Evan has grown in the past year!  I was able to get so many more pictures of Evan last year.  Nowadays he won't stay still and he doesn't want to smile when you ask him to.  He is definitely independent and will let you know it!

Evan was scared of the longhorns and only wanted Matt to feed them.  He eventually found a nice, safe spot on Matt's shoulders. 

The goats were a different story.  I guess they were less intimidating.  After much coaxing, Evan put food in his hand and fed the goats.  He was so very proud.  My mom LOVES coming with us to the pumpkin patch.  I think it will be a tradition to also bring Gaga along with us.  My mom was kind enough to stand behind the camera and capture some family pictures.

Confession:  I seriously cannot believe I have a kid who has BLUE eyes.  I've always wished that I had blue eyes...but boring brown is what I was given.  I know that James is still very young and his eyes can change any day, but I will soak up these blue eyes for as long as I can.  And then I'll cross my fingers forever in hopes that they stay blue. 

I attempted to get a couple of brother pictures.  James was all for it.  I mean, he was even okay with the dangerous lean your kid against some round pumpkins act.  He's a rebel I tell you.  Unfortunately, Evan would have rather followed the cute little kitty that was wondering around in the background of this picture.  I'm the mean mama that set him down next to the pumpkins and wouldn't let him chase it.  He punished me by whining and refusing to smile.  Touche Evan.  Touche.  

I'm loving this Fall tradition of ours.  I mean, I'm an Aggie.  We love our traditions!

One Month - James

James you are one month old!

Eat

You nurse on demand which turns out to be about every 1-3 hours during the day and then you eat about 3 times during the night.  You are an EXCELLENT nurser.  We do give you one bottle a day to get you used to it, but I love nursing you so we can snuggle. 

Sleep

You wake up in the morning around 7:00ish and are usually up for an hour or two before you take your first nap.  I like for you to have about 3 good awake times during the day because I have found that helps you sleep better at night.  The best way for me to get you to nap during the day is to wear your in the baby bjorn or lay down next to you while you nurse.  We put you in your crib for the night around 8:30 and you usually give us a 4-5 hour stretch.  Then you're up every 3 hours or so during the night.

Sizes

You stopped fitting in your newborn clothes right around the time you turned one month old.  You are currently wearing 0-3 month onsies and some 3 month clothes that run small.  You are in size 1 diapers.

Stats

• Weight: 10 pounds, 10 ounces (74th percentile)
• Height: 22.75 inches (85th percentile)
• Head Circumference: 14.75 inches (39th percentile)

Likes

• Nursing
• Sleeping
• Looking at light (windows, lamps, etc.)
• Being held in the baby bjorn
• Walks in your stroller
• Car rides
• Watching the ceiling fan when it is spinning slowly

Dislikes

• Baths
• the process of being swaddled (but you like being swaddled once you have calmed down)
• being poked by your big brother

Firsts

• You smiled on purpose for the first time on September 18th (you were technically 1 month, 4 days old but close enough)
• Following objects/people with your eyes
• First time to the park (you slept the whole time)
• You have started losing your hair on the top of your head just like Evan did.  

Life with Two

James was only about 1 week old in this picture

Two children.

Four boys (including Matt and Joey).

One thousand diapers.

Not enough sleep.

Tons of love.

Evan has been asking to hold baby James ever few days

Our life lately has definitely been an adjustment.  A LOT has changed in just a very short amount of time.  Not only did we add another little one to the mix, but Matt started a new job, and I will be teaching a different grade when I return to work (this equals more work on my end).  

First visit with the doctor

Quality time!

Overall I'm happy to say that it has been a somewhat smooth transition.  I have to partly attribute that to the fact that we started sending Evan back to his babysitter about 2 weeks before James was born.  We wanted him to have a clear routine and not feel like he was going to the babysitter because the baby was around.  He returned to his babysitter 5 days after James was born.  I initially struggled with the thought of sending Evan to daycare while I was home on maternity leave, but I realize now that it was the best decision for our family.  It gives him time to be social with other children, and me time to love on this baby (and nap of course).  I was blessed with 4.5 months off with Evan and I will unfortunately only have 8 weeks off with James.  I want to be able to soak up this time with my littlest one as much as possible. 

A lot of people have asked how Evan is doing with this change in our family.  I'm happy to say that he hasn't regressed in any skills!  I hear that a lot of kids will regress when it comes to using the potty.  Lucky us because Evan is nowhere near ready to be potty trained so that means double the diapers and wipes (she says with sarcasm).  In all seriousness, he does become jealous at times (usually while I am nursing) and promptly tells me to put James in the swing.  I make sure to love on Evan as much as possible while James is sleeping.  He has become more cuddly in the past month and I'm going to count that as a win!

Joey: the protector

Love this kid!

Since Evan is gone during part of the day and James is sleeping a great deal, I have some free time on my hands.  What am I  doing you ask?  One word:  Pinterest.  I have never considered myself much of a cook, but I have been trying out new recipes left and right!  They are mostly low carb recipes (my diet of choice) and I'm enjoying it much more than I had anticipated.  I'm also going through each room of our house and purging unnecessary items and reorganizing things.  If you know me at all, you know I'm in heaven while I do this!  It's not every day that the house is quiet and you can organize a closet without a two year old asking to be picked up, have his boo boo kissed, or simultaneously terrorizing another part of the house.

I officially have only 3 full weeks left to enjoy my maternity leave.  That is 3 weeks to make new recipes, kiss my baby whenever I feel like it, and lose those last pesky pounds so I can fit into my work pants again.  Let's hope these are the three slowest weeks of my life!

 

James' Newborn Photos

I took James' newborn photos when he was 5 days old but I just got around to editing them.  He was super cooperative and was passed out the entire time while I was taking pictures.  He has already changed so much (he's one month old now) so I'm happy that I took these pictures!

Check out that sweet face!  I could just stare at him all day long.

I can already tell that he is going to have Matt's eyelashes...long and curly.  The girls will be swooning.

The green blanket is a very special family piece.  My grandma (hi Grandma Winston!) made it for Evan and I used it in his newborn photos as well.  It's ridiculously soft and I just love it so much.  I hope this blanket gets passed down through our family for years to come.

Those eyes!  They are still blue and we are crossing our fingers that they stay blue.  I know it's a long shot, but we would love for James to have blue eyes just like my mom.

Of course I cannot forget to add pictures of Evan!  We attempted to take a few sibling pictures, but big brother was a little hyper and uncooperative.  I'm pretty sure all he wanted to do was jump around and yell really loudly.  At least we got a super cute picture of just him.

I'll be back later this week with an update on how our family is doing and James' one month blog post!