Changes, changes & more changes!

Yes, I know... I've been extremely bad with my updates on our sweet Matthew.

Between a trip to Las Vegas at the end of October, a girls weekend in Asheville, then Thanksgiving, the month of November has completely slipped past me. They always as as you "get older" time flies right past you, but boy they forgot to mention when you become a parent, it flies by in warp speed!

Sweet Matthew continues to grow by leaps and bounds. It's really hard to ever imagine he was this tiny 5 lb nugget, that we actually worried he wouldn't put on weight...

Here is his 5 month picture - man I love those cheeks!

And you can see he didn't want to sit still too long for the picture... Before long, I'm sure he'll be trying to climb out of the chair!

We started solids at about 4 1/2 months and let me tell you he loves food! So far anything we introduce to him, he eats - guess he gets that from his Mommy! Last night we tried pears and he gobbled them up! The kid clearly hasn't missed ANY meals...
We also took Matthew to his first Georgia Tech tailgate :) Thank goodness for the Baby Bjorn... Our chunky monkey got a little heavy trying to carry the entire time. Although, he and I didn't go to the game, at least he experienced his first football tailgate!

As he grows up more and more each day, his sweet and fun personality continues to develop! He has the best giggle when you zerbert his belly or arm pits, or tickle those chunky thighs. He's finally rolling more and more and last night even did a 360 turn in his crib! He squeals and cracks himself up, but definitely will let you know when he's bored or wants to be held. But all I can say, is that we couldn't be more blessed with such a sweet, sweet little boy! I'll just never get over how much he changes from day to day.

And speaking of changes, tomorrow is my last day with the American Cancer Society. I accepted a position at Northside Hospital in their oncology program, and I start on Monday. It was such a bittersweet decision to make, but one that I needed to make both personally for our family and professionally. They always say that motherhood "changes you" and I just truly never understood or knew until it happened to me. I just knew in my heart it was time for me to switch gears, so I could be closer to home with Matthew and Jason. It will be hard to say good-bye to all the wonderful people I've come to know and love at ACS, but know that I will continue to work with this wonderful organization in my new role.

4 Months Old and a trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

Here we are another month has gone by and our little man continues to grow and change more and more! He smiles all the time, except when I pull out a camera - he turns into Mr. Serious, we're getting more and more giggles, coos and makes lots of fun noises and is still sleeping like a champ at night - 10-11 hrs.

We had his 4 month pediatrician appointment on Monday, which meant more vaccinations :(

We were able to time it pretty well with his feedings, but the appointment ran late, so he was pretty fussy by the time shots rolled around. Jason was able to come to this appointment, since Mom wasn't ready to do another set of shots by herself again.

Matthew of course cried and cried - heck I would too! But this time after the shots, he was a lot more fussy than at his 2 month appointment. But by Tuesday morning he was back to his sweet, happy self - the boy we just adore!

Here is before his appointment - do you think he knew where he was going...

Ok, much better! Although we need to work on his smiles for the camera!

He was measured, weighed, the whole nine yards and he is:

• 14 lbs 1 oz (40th percentile)
• 25 inches long (55th percentile)
• Head circumference: 16 1/2 inches (48th percentile)

We also got the go ahead to start rice cereal, which we are really excited about. I think Jason is really excited - everytime we are eating dinner he puts something in front of Matthew's mouth. Of course I panic thinking he'll try and gobble it down. Matthew hasn't yet...

Last weekend we also headed over to the church pumpkin patch. it was quite comical trying to pose Matthew, but we got some cute pictures!

I love this picture of my boys!

This cracks me up that he's got his arm on the pumpkin - like he's thinking "yep me & my pumpkin buddy!"
Look at that pouty lip!
And next week is Matthew's last week at the Goddard School. About a month ago to our surprise we got a call from Dunwoody Christian Academy saying that they had an opening for Matthew. While I was of course extremely excited, it was bittersweet. Matthew did so well transitioning to daycare when I went back to work and his infant room teachers are just the most sweet women. They really made me feel so comfortable with the entire transition. But the commute for both Jason and I is really tough, where Dunwoody Christian Academy is less than a mile from our house. So once we get back from our trip from Las Vegas, Matthew will start his new "school".

We have a thumb sucker on our hands!

It appears that Matthew will follow in the footsteps of both of his parents and suck his thumb. For the past 2 months I've watched him try so hard to figure out how to suck his thumb, but in the past 2 weeks he's definitely got it down!

It is really cute to watch and I have to admit, it will be nice to not have to keep up with a pacificer.

Here's Matthew in action - it really is just too sweet!

3 Months (and then some)

Clearly this is way overdue, Matthew is well over 3 months old at this point (14 weeks to be exact), but since going back to work, I've realized some things (this blog, exercising, among other things) have been put on the back burner temporarily.

I'll probably say this on every post, but it is truly amazing how much Matthew changes from week to week and month to month. Clearly I'm a new mom!

Here he is before heading out to school. What a good sport for an early morning!
We haven't been back to the pediatrician yet, but his unofficial weight is around 13 lbs, probably more like 13+ lbs! The boy is a great eater, but I think his length helps to even out his weight.
However, check out those cheeks, who do you think he gets those from!!??

I've now been back to work for 3 weeks and Matthew in daycare for 3 weeks as well. Both are going really well, which is such a relief! Matthew has done such a great job acclimating to daycare. He's always smiling when I pick him up - probably because he's typically just been fed - but they always say he's had a great day. I will say that it didn't take long for the germs to hit. He's been congested for over a week and he came home on Monday evening with a slight fever, but the fever quickly broke. I will say, he was still his happy, playful self.

AND.... last night I finally got what I knew was an offical giggle! I think I squealed so loud, Matthew looked at me like I was crazy - but boy do I love baby giggles! Now I just have to figure out how to get more out of him :)

And here are a few pictures of our cutie pie from the past couple of weeks!

Bath time!

Tummy Time! I'm getting so strong!
In the backyard in my Bumbo!

Back to Work...

Yesterday was my official first day back to work, however I have been lucky enough to work from home this week to transition back, as well transition Matthew into daycare.

Yes that means we found a daycare too! I'll get to that in a bit.

I have to say (as I have many times before) the last 12 weeks just flew right past us. There we were at Northside Hospital a month early welcoming our sweet Matthew to this world and now I'm headed back to work and he's not the tiny peanut Jason and I were "scared to break". He's now this little angel baby, with spunk, personality, lovable smiles and chubby legs that I can't get enough of!

Here's our peanut in his carseat on the way home from the hospital...
And here he is at 10 weeks old!
It is just truly amazing how much he has changed in now 11 weeks! Matthew does something new everyday and continues to grow like crazy.

• He is sleeping about 9-10 hours at night - yay he got that from his Mama!
• Loves playing on a new activity mat - even started smiling and swating at the hanging toys, like they are playing back with him. It might be the cutest thing I've ever seen!
• Finally likes his bath - no more crying :)
• Enjoys diaper changes - we play and chat while Mama changes him.
• He smiles a ton, which totally melts my heart!
• He's cooing, ahhing and making fun noises - again I totally love!
• Holds his head up really well - no more floppy
• Doesn't fuss too much during tummy time
• And eats like a champ!

Jason and I are so blessed!

So speaking of blessed, as I go back to work and swallow the idea of being away from Matthew all day, words cannot describe the love I have for our son. No one, not even your parents, can fully prepare you for the emotions and the love that you will feel for your child. I never thought I could love someone as much as I love Matthew. Of course this makes the idea of heading back to work extremely hard, but everyone tells me it does get better. We shall see about that one!

So yes, we did find a temporary daycare. It is a bit of a distance from our house, but was a good choice, so I don't totally lose my mind worrying. It is a Goddard School my high school friend Janet has been taking her daughter and just raved. They luckily had an opening so we grabbed it up. The infant room teachers are just wonderful, so I knew we made the right choice. Tuesday we took Matthew for his first half day, I was ok while getting him dressed, fed and in the car. It wasn't until we did the "hand off" that I started to lose it. Then of course the minute we stepped outside, I just lost it. I know he's safe and happy - heck he smiled at us as we left - but I guess after being at home with him for 12 weeks the thought of not seeing him whenever I please really hit me hard. When I picked him up, he did look exhausted, and a bit confused, but he wasn't crying - whew! I did another drop off this afternoon and Mama kept it together.

And to close out this post for today, here are more fun pictures of our sweet Matthew!

Our happy boy!
See I love bath time now!!
He just melts my heart!