Little ham

I hate that my cell phone camera is so slow.  So I was thrilled when I got this blurry smiley photo of my little man.  He is just so sweet these days. I just want to love on him always!!

Go Bears!!

Chris has always wanted a football buddy.  He got one and he is way too cute for words!!  I just can't stand how fast he is growing.  Seriously, my baby is sitting in a Bumbo!

Wedding bells are ringing!

Heather and Vince finally tied the knot!!

We got to celebrate their special day with them. I was nervous taking a 5 month old but Caleb was a dream!  He was happy all day and despite barely napping, he was as pleasant as could be.  I think he just didn't want to miss a thing with all the people and loud noise to take in.

Break down of Heather's wedding.

2 PM- get married.  It was a short, simple ceremony.  Heather looked stunning!  We had 3.5 hours until the reception began. Many of us went back to Lilian's place where she announced some pretty big news!  Think bun in an oven! Shhh!!  We had a really good time hanging out with each other.  I wish we lived closer to each other so we could visit more often.  I'm so happy for all my friends- getting good jobs, houses, married, having babies.  Man, it's like we are in our late 20s, early 30s these days.

Heather's reception started late.  Cocktail hour began at 6; they had open bar and slideshows playing. They had a nice peacock wall art to sign.  I thought that was a neat idea because they can display the art in their home and remember their guests from their big day!  The doors finally opened around 7:15 to be seated.  Dinner was served at 8 and the first dance was around 10 or so I believe.   We did the reception-y things and enjoyed the photo booth pictures. Overall it was a great wedding and I couldn't be happier for the couple!

ready for his three hour drive

Baby's first... sunburn

Unfortunately for Caleb, he inherited his momma's sensitive skin.  He got to play out on this gorgeous 70 degree day and had too much sun.  This picture doesn't do his redness justice.  Poor little man. Aloe and nursing for him tonight!

Caleb is 5 months

So dare I say that 4 months was my absolute favorite age?!  He is so easy-going and fun and giggly.  He can't exactly crawl away.  He is learning so many new things.  And I just love how much he enjoys life!

This month was a whirlwind --just when he turned four months, I had to return to work.  It was a very hard adjustment for me, still is, but we are getting better each day.

Sleep:
Caleb sleeps from 8-10:30 then 10:40-2 then 2:15-5:30 and gets up for the day around 6:30.
He takes several naps throughout the day totaling around 5-6 more hours.  He usually gets one good two hour nap in the morning and afternoon and sleeps in his carseat on the way home from daycare.

Food:
Still all breastmilk for my little champ

Development:
He watches the world very closely.  He is quick to learn new sounds and things.  He learned to stick out his tongue from watching at daycare.  He is getting closer to sitting up. He has gotten more proficient at rolling from back to stomach and takes great interest in particular toys.  He is all about music, loves it!

He still isn't a regular pooper and only goes during the day like every 7-8 days.  Usually by day 6-7, he starts to be fussy.  Although that seems to be cured this week as he has pooped every day!!

He still loves all the same things: music, mommy, daddy, baths, nursing and he still really hates loud noises (ex. dog barks, loud clapping, screeching chairs)

Here are some of my fave phone photos from his 4th month...

My Thai-- sushi date night!

"Push-ups" -- strong boy

flirty eyes on a stroll, notice how he was holding his blanket

meeting Paula for the first time

Wearing a duck outfit and holding a stuffed duck

cheering on the Cardinals for Uncle Ben

Such sweetness; he loves his daddy

"cool baby" picture with the grandparents

giggling at that baby in the mirror with daddy

Fun with Grandpa at Attie's

Excuse me, I have a lot to say...

My little man seemed to have a bunch to say tonight! So cute!!

New cut

Don't you love it when you go to the hair salon, talk about what you want, and the girl does nothing at all like it?!  I don't do short layers.  They make my hair look big.  We talked about long layers in the front and stacking the back.  When she did it yesterday, it looked great. Today I couldn't get it to be cute.  So here is a picture of the one time for the next eight or more weeks that I'll like how my hair looks....

Working momma... being real

So now that I'm back to work I've settled into a bit of a routine.  So I thought I'd give you an overview of what a typical day might look like.

12:00 am- nurse
3:00 am- nurse
5:30 am- nurse
6:00 shower
6:45 pump
7:10 leave for work
7:30 arrive & begin duties
7:50 tardy bell rings
10:50 pump (in a bathroom) & eat lunch
11:20 back to class
3:00 pump
3:15-5:00 work on the copious amounts of work that I never seem to be able to do throughout the day or sit through meetings
5:20 pick up my wonderful baby boy- this is my favorite part of the day by far
5:30 do dishes while Caleb snoozes in his car seat then wake and play
7:30 bedtime routine
9:00 bedtime for momma

It isn't really a glamorous life but it is my current situation.  I just thank God for the opportunity to work for our family.  Even if it isn't my desire or dream at this moment, when I think of the "big picture" it is okay.  It makes me happy to know that I can still nourish my baby while I'm separated from him. I know he is in good hands while I'm away.  I hope that our second income will prove to be lucrative to his and our future!  I try to be grateful even when I feel overly tired or overwhelmed.  The first couple of weeks back were extremely hard and emotional but I'm learning to take things day by day.  I think I even battled depression through it all.  I think I'm coming out ahead of it and can start to see some positives.  But, I know that I am very blessed and can always slow things down if it becomes too much.  I just feel thankful that I have a great network of people encouraging me along the way.  And this was my "being real" post so I apologize if it was scrambled or didn't make sense as I tried to get my thoughts out.