Making the most of your mornings

How do you spend your mornings?

My little one wakes me up between 6:30 -7 am with squeals and laughter. When he gets up, he is ready to PLAY. Momma on the other hand is not a morning person until she gets her coffee. In fact, my husband won't even attempt a conversation with me until I have a cup of coffee in my hand. It's a bad addiction I suppose, but I love my coffee. I really wish I was more of a morning person because I want to greet my husband and baby with a smile in the morning rather than a grumpy squinty-eyed face. So I have decided to take on a challenge called Maximize Your Mornings over at a blog called Inspired To Action. The focus of the challenge is to make the most of your mornings whether that means devoting time to prayer, exercise, or making lists to plan for your day. For me, this is a great idea because since becoming a mother it has been difficult to find time for myself during the day. It is also a great way for me to set aside time to really acknowledge and thank God for all the wonderful blessings in my life! This will hopefully put me in a good mood so that I can be a fun and happy wife and momma.

My first goal is to wake up 15 minutes earlier than I normally do to devote some time to reading the bible and prayer. By getting up early I hope to gain some kind of focus for the day and to set myself and my family up for success. Of course there is a chance that I will press snooze, but hopefully not. I will keep you posted.

6 months

Sammy

You turned 6 months young on Friday and of course you continue to amaze me. I took this photo of you and it surprised me how much you have changed over this past month. You can now roll both ways. I never thought you would roll from back to belly, but you finally did and it was so fun to watch! You can sit up for a little while unassisted but usually you topple over. Yesterday I didn't catch you on time and you bonked your little head on the floor. I felt so bad! You seemed more shocked than hurt and all I had to do was sing the song "Sammy Baby" which is actually the oldie "Sherry Baby" with your name replacing Sherry and you started to smile SO big. You are not close to crawling yet, but I don't mind. I hear it gets harder once babies get mobile and I have not done any baby-proofing of the apartment yet.

You have changed so much, yet when you sleep you look the same as when you first came home. You have the same peaceful beautiful face. I am obsessed with kissing your chubby thighs, belly, and cheeks. I seriously wish I could bottle up your smell and soft skin so I can always remember it. You are ticklish under your chin, on your back, and on your thighs. You are so very happy and joyful and it makes me think God sends us babies to remind us to laugh more and not take life so seriously. I cannot thank HIM enough for giving me the best gift ever! You!

Love Always,

Mom

We like each other

A lot :)

I went through Sammy's drawers and cleaned out the clothes he has outgrown once again. It makes me sad when I have to make room for the "bigger" clothes. It makes me wonder if I'm being too sentimental or if every mother has these feelings? I guess I will just have to have another baby when Samuel gets too big ;)

I really like being a mom. I feel like I really fit into this role, this new phase of my life. My husband said it's like I was meant to be a mother. That makes me happy. But there are also other parts of my life that I miss and that I need to work into my schedule again. I haven't made much art, and it is hard to get myself out on the running trails some days. This will come with time but for right now I really don't mind spending every waking moment with this little sweetheart. Time really does go by WAY too fast.

A Happy Fall

I live in North Carolina. I am originally from Minnesota where the fall weather shows itself much earlier. Last week it was still in the 90's here and I was miserable. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate warm summer days, but it is the end of September and the Minnesota blood in me is calling for some crisp fall air.

So yesterday was the first day that it was "cool" enough to celebrate the start of fall! It was the perfect day: cold (70 degrees), dreary (always a good fall indicator), and raining (bonus!). So I packed up Sammy and we headed to the mall to find a good fall candle to burn all day. We were in luck because Bath and Body had a 2/20$ candle sale and I purchased a few yummy caramel apple candles.

I also cooked my first pot roast of the season in the crock pot with potatoes and carrots. The husband was pleasantly surprised by the aroma filling the house when he got home. I highly recommend making one. All I do is:

1. Coat the roast in flour

2. Brown it on all sides with some oil in the frying pan

3. Chop 2 potatoes and a bunch of carrots ( I love cooked carrots) into large pieces

4. Add veggies to the bottom of the crock pot

5. Put roast on top

6. Mix lipton onion soup mix with 3/4 cup of water and pour over roast

7. Cook on low for 8 hours.

8. Enjoy Yummy tender roast and delectable veggies.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Because I adore fall and I adore blogs especially blogs that teach you how to make/do something, I decided to make a fall banner to make the home feel even more festive. I got the idea here. It was easy, cheap and I already had all the materials. The tutorial uses newspaper, but I had lots of pretty scrap book pages to use up, so that's what I used. The possibilities are endless. So here is my Happy Fall banner.

Sammy is just hanging out while I made a mess.

Here it is! Bad lighting and all.

Hope you are having Happy Fall Ya'll

Toys

Just thought you might want to see how we entertain ourselves on a daily basis....

Meet "Whirly Bird" My mom aka Grandma Barb named him/her when she came to visit a month ago.

This is Samuel's most FAVorite toy. I say Sammy, here comes.....WHIRLY BIRD! And he shrieks in delight. I don't know when babies actually start to belly laugh. Mine seems to scream or yell when he is happy. Anyways, if you know anyone who is going to have a baby, whirly bird is a gem to have. His actual name by the way (on the tag) is Jacque the Peacock.

Other things my little Sam likes:

This guy "Monster Man"

I sing the song Macho Man but replace those words with Monster Man. He was a gift from my husband's aunt Karlene. Sammy likes to chew on his horns. And he makes a yuck face when the fur gets in his mouth.

This crazy contraption is called a jumperoo. Sammy was very confused the first time I put him in it. But now he is thoroughly amused by it :)

That is all for now. I'm hoping to post more often :)

5 months

Dear Sammy

You are over 5 months old now. My heart still fills up when you smile and talk to me. I am so darn lucky. You grasp things regularly and when I carry you around you reach out at the things you want to touch. You love your daddy. When he comes through the door from work, I say "Daddy's HOME!" and the smile you make fills your entire face. You are showing interest in the food we eat now. Soon enough you will be starting solids and sitting on your own and maybe you will even crawl soon? :) You love the soft books that auntie Katie sent you. She sends us lots of awesome things like shoes and books and jammies. You moved up to size 3 diapers. This is a big deal. You are growing so fast! I love the rolls on your thighs and how your cheeks are filling out so well ;)

Today it is raining and you and I slept in. It hasn't rained here in about a month. It was so nice. Then when you decided it was time to get up we played with your little bumble bee rattle and practiced sitting up. You drool a lot and when I kiss you I get slobber on my face, but I don't care. I love your sweet baby drool. I never knew I would like being a mom so much. I hope I can have more babies just like you someday, but different because there is only one you.

Oh one more thing I need to tell you. This weekend your dad and I ran a 5K race and he won a prize for being the first person to finish with a stroller! You made us 10 bucks this weekend! Awesome huh? We hope you will love to run like us someday. Ok little boy, you are awake from your nap and it's time to PLAY again!

Love Always,

Mom

4 months

As I write this you are asleep little boy. You are four months old now which is quite an amazing feat! You are 1/3 of a year old which is crazy to me because I can still picture your tiny newborn face and I can still remember what it was like to have you all curled up on my chest with your little head tucked under my chin. I remember bringing you home from the hospital and crying out of pure happiness and amazement while watching you sleep. So precious.

You are not so tiny anymore. Being nearly 16 pounds and able to hold up your body weight when I hang onto your hands, I know you are one step closer to being mobile. I love your little personality and your gummy smiles that never end. Even when I am feeling a little grumpy, just hearing you squeal and laugh is enough to get me out of my funk. I am amazed at how you can grasp things and bring them to your mouth. You can even grasp your pacifier and eventually turn it around the right way until it fits into your mouth. You are learning things so fast and part of me wants to slow it down but I know that would be selfish....

So keep learning my little boy, and don't slow down for me. You are amazing and you should keep on going, full speed ahead!