7 months

My chunky little cherub is 7 months old! Oh my...where has the time gone? I have first hand experience with just how quickly time flies when you're raising kids now that I have a twelve year old and an almost ten year old, but this third time around is moving at warp speed...and I just want it to slow down!
I remember with my boys, I was always anxiously awaiting the next milestone. When they could sit up, I couldn't wait for them to crawl. When they crawled, I couldn't wait for them to walk. When they could walk, I couldn't wait for them to talk. Then one day I opened my eyes and my round little boys were long and tall, and suddenly acting like mini grown-ups. I regretted all the rushing to the next milestone I did, and longed for the days when they'd sleep in between my husband and I, waking us up on a Sunday morning demanding to be cuddled.
I recently had a conversation with my sister, who's in the throws of that stage now - wondering if she'll ever have her bed to herself, but also enjoying the closeness she has with her girls. I told her that it had been years since my boys came crawling into our bed in the middle of the night. Years. Realizing that, in that moment, was so heartbreaking to me. You can't get that time back, but how blessed am I to get to start all over? It's like I've been granted the opportunity to hit the reset button and I'm loving every minute of it!
People are always asking me what it's like to "start over". To have to go back to diapers, sleepless nights, bottle washing, hauling around twenty tons of crap. They seem to expect me to be exasperated at having to give up my freedom again, after only recently getting it back in many ways. But I couldn't be more happy about it. Of course, it helps that my baby is simply the most perfect, happy and delightful baby that ever lived, but even at the rough moments, I couldn't be happier. At seven months old, Sophia is still not crawling yet, and I'm totally okay with that!

6 months

Once again, I'm terribly late posting this. For the past week the nags from family have gotten loud enough to get me rolling. "Where's Sophia's 6 month picture?" is all I've been hearing about! I can't blame them though. If I didn't get to see her every day, I'd be begging too! In fact, I can barely stand being away from her for even an hour. She's a little ball of sunshine that lights up everyone's world. I don't think I've ever met a more happy child.
But it's been a very chaotic month, and her happy disposition was put to the test when she spent a recent long weekend in the hospital with RSV {a.k.a. a very nasty chest cold}. Unfortunately, her sixth month birthday included being hooked up to a bunch of tubes. It was a very scary experience for all of us, but she was such a trooper! She barely cried and smiled at every nurse and doctor she met, even when they were coming to poke and prod her.
Since then, she's made a full recovery and has had many fun adventures. We started solid foods this month, which has been an at times, funny, and others, frustrating experience. She does not care for pureed foods yet, and much prefers eating tiny bits of "big people" food. Like I did with my boys, I've been trying to make some homemade baby food with mixed results, but I'm determined to have another child who loves a wide range of foods, so I'll keep at it!
In the world of physical milestones, she's shown absolutely no desire whatsoever to crawl. Both my boys were crawling by 7 months old, but I can tell you right now, that won't be happening with Sophia. She is perfectly content sitting up, watching the world go by around her, and chewing on whatever it is she's managed to get her hands on. But who can blame her with two big brothers who do everything for her?
She's also traded in long naps for sleeping through the night. Which is wonderful on one hand, because now I can get a full nights sleep as well, but the lack of daytime sleeping has left me little time to accomplish anything. It's been a whirlwind, but I also know how quickly time flies, so I'm just soaking it all in! I know the day will come when the laundry will get done.

5 months

I'm very late getting this post up. Sophia actually turned 5 months old on Christmas Day, in the midst of all the holiday craziness. But I'm just now catching my breath {somewhat} after having my boys home from school for two weeks, only to get slammed with a winter snowstorm. Not that I'm complaining, because I love snow days!!
This month has been a big one for Sophia. As with all babies in their first year, each month brings a whole new set of accomplishments. Like her big brothers, she was early to sit up and was doing so unassisted at 4 1/2 months {she can thank her strong daddy genes for that one!}. Because she was early at holding her head up, and now sitting up, she's also been eager to eat, so in the past week or so we've introduced some rice cereal. She hasn't quite gotten past the innate baby reflex which causes her to promptly spit all foreign objects out of her mouth, so it's a mostly fruitless undertaking, but we're taking baby steps. I can't wait to start making her some baby food!
And, while on the subject of food...I've recently tried some excellent new recipes {adult food, that is!} and I'm hoping to share them with you very soon. I hope you all had an excellent New Year. I, for one, am looking forward to a great 2014!
{photo credit: my 9 year old son, Miles}

4 months

Now that we've left the "fourth trimester" phase, Sophia is a completely different baby. She's super alert, so so close to sitting up on her own, smiling, "talking" like crazy, and the biggest change of all...she's awake almost all the time! Gone are the early days when she slept almost as many hours as she was awake. Also gone is any semblance of free time for Mommy. There have been days when that reality is challenging, especially when there's so much I wish I could do, but when I face the cold hard facts, and practice acceptance, I can handle it. I just keep telling myself it's useless to fight it. I need to sit back and enjoy every moment with this baby while she's still a baby. Everything else will have to can wait.

But will you look at this baby? I can hardly complain! She's an angel, and so soft and cuddly and mushy and...oh my god, I can't take it. She easily receives about a thousand kisses a day, and that's just from me! Whenever I look at her, I just stare, and wonder how I got so lucky.

3 months

How is it possible that three months have passed already?? I'm definitely in the thick of the 'days are long, the weeks are short' phase of things. Every day Sophia is changing. She's so alert now, and coos constantly {how I'd love to know what she's saying}. She also makes the funniest faces! When we did the photo shoot for this post {which was impromptu, and not the best lighting, hence the grainy photos}, I captured so many, so quickly, that scrolling through them was like watching her in action. That's why I decided to make this little gif, rather than post only one photo. Next month, I'm fairly certain she'll either be sitting up, or have cut her first tooth...both of which are on the horizon soon!

Smiles

You could say I'm a bit baby crazy at the moment. I'm in love with the many faces Sophia makes...the bugged eye spooked look, the perplexed furrow, the nonplussed gaze, and finally, the smile. The kind of smile that makes me feel like everything I do for her is appreciated...and so worth every sleepless night. The smile that melts my heart and makes me so happy it hurts.

2 Months

I've been dying to update you on how big {and precious} my sweet Sophia has gotten! I can't believe it's already been two months since she was born. It seems like only yesterday that I was waddling around all puffy and swollen...and very pregnant. During the first few weeks of post-partum life, there were times when I wished I was still pregnant {hard to believe, considering how much I cursed the July heat those last few weeks}. But adjusting to life with a newborn again, after nine years, was quite a challenge initially. She lost a whole pound her first two weeks in the world...and for anyone who's had a child and remembers this part, by two weeks old they're supposed to be at their birth weight again, not a pound less!
You see, I'm nursing her, just like I did my two boys, and the process didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. My milk was slow to come in, and she ended up needing to be supplemented with formula. I was encouraged to pump after her feedings to build up my supply, which meant I had about a half hour of non-feeding related activities every 3-4 hours, or so. I was existing purely as a milk factory. I was drained physically, recovering from her birth, and to add fuel to the fire, my emotions were in a hormonal upheaval. On top of all that, I had my two boys, who were about to begin a new year of school, and who needed me to function as their mother as well.

Introducing...

...our sweet as pie baby girl! Sophia Marie was born nearly two weeks ago, on July 25th at 10:58pm...an hour and two minutes before her due date. She's perfect in every way, with blue eyes and a generous mop of dark brown hair! I was shocked she wasn't a redhead because after having two crimson haired boys before her, I figured it was destined, but I'm fine with a brunette too! I'm happy my husband has at least one child that takes after him in the hair color department, and truthfully, I could care less what color her hair is...I'm just over the moon that she's here and healthy!
These past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions. Everything from sheer infatuation and adoration to being completely overwhelmed by it all. It's been nine years since I held my last baby in my arms, so this has been like starting all over again. The most surreal part of it so far has been watching our household grow to a family of five. Getting in the car feels different {and certainly fuller with a carseat!}, laying in our king sized bed on a Sunday morning is cozier, and going grocery shopping is more chaotic than ever..but best of all has been seeing my two sons welcome their baby sister. They are smitten beyond words and couldn't be more helpful. I know the novelty will probably wear slightly with time, but for now, I'll take it!

I've been working on this post, a little here, a little there, for days now, but I'm at Sophia's command at the moment, and having any extra "hands free" time has been a luxury I'm rarely afforded. There's so much more I want to talk about and share with you...and hopefully, over the coming weeks I'll be able to. Since I was last here, I've had two amazing baby showers - thrown and attended by my many amazing friends and family members. The starting over part doesn't just apply to the emotional and physical parts of this process, but also to the material aspects as well. I got rid of every single last bit of baby gear I had from my previous two babies years ago and have had to start from square one with that too. I'll be sharing all of my favorite baby finds with you soon!

Desktop Wallpaper // May 2013

Once again, it's been ages since I've updated the blog. I can assure you that {sadly} there's been very little cooking going on in my household. Most weeks have been a complete blur, one rolling into the next, and I find myself frequently wondering where all the time goes.
Some of the happenings since I last posted have been: a 52-page elementary school yearbook which I've spent the better part of the past 7 months creating, the end of winter sports season and the beginning of spring sports {travel hockey, AAA baseball, travel lacrosse, and more hockey - 4 sports teams to coordinate and shuffle to equals one exhausted mama}...and the beginning of my third trimester of pregnancy!
Being pregnant this time around has been a whirlwind. So far it's been going by faster than the other two pregnancies and it's hard to believe I only have a couple months to go! Unfortunately, with all the craziness in my life I haven't done a thing to get prepared for the birth. I have so much to do! But now that a few of the big projects in my life are done I plan on dedicating my remaining pregnant time to getting ready.

I remember many years ago, when I was attending my first semester of college at a local school and living with my grandmother, she had a daily schedule of tidying one room of the house each day. With her being up there in age at the time, she wasn't able to tackle big projects anymore. She explained that doing things in piecemeal was her way of getting the whole house clean by the end of the week without wearing herself out. Nowadays, I find myself smiling, thinking of her and her routine, and how that's me these days! I waddle at a slow pace and things are happening in a gradual process. For someone who's usually an "everything has to be done yesterday" kind of person, it's taking some getting used to, but mother nature is forcing me to slow down whether I like it or not.
While on the subject of time management...the past couple months I've been making myself desktop calendar wallpapers. They come in very handy when I need to quickly reference what day it is...and let me tell you, there are plenty of days when I have no idea! I thought I'd share it with you guys {even though it's a week into May already!} as a gift to all of you mothers, or mother lovers out there. Just click on the link below that most closely matches your computer's screen size...I even made some for your iPhone. Enjoy!
1280 x 1024 | 1600 x 1200 | 1680 x 1050 | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1200 | iPhone 4S | iPhone 5

Baby Makes Five...

As promised, I'm finally updating you all on what's been keeping me from this blog...and it's a BABY! This news may come as a surprise to some of you, especially those of you who know me well and are aware that I have two boys {one of whom is 11 years old and the other who's almost 8}, and that to the best of my knowledge my baby making days were over.
And as far as I knew, they were. But that wasn't always the case -- after my second son was born I thought for sure I'd have a third child. I came from a large family and always pictured myself with a house full of kids someday. But as the years passed by and no baby came, I settled into my routine as a mom of two and accepted that a small family might be what was meant for me. We live in a small home, not nearly big enough just big enough for us and once both of my kids reached school age I realized what all the fuss was about when more experienced parents told me that children were expensive! I figured with two kids we could do more for them and more as a family that we could with a bigger brood. Plus, I was finally getting a taste of freedom after years of chasing toddlers around the house!