Overnight

Look at my cute kiddo!

I think I've mentioned before, but the light in our mudroom is just perfect in the morning. So I have lots of pictures of Andrew in his pajamas in this room. It doesn't make for cute backgrounds, but the light can be just right so I feel the need to capture it.

At least he's not wearing Christmas pajamas this time.

(I like to keep Andrew in his pj's until after we eat breakfast because it's just cleaner that way. Why risk getting your cute outfit messy at breakfast? We still have all those other meals and snacks to make it through throughout the day. :))


I'm taking Andrew to my parents' tomorrow, and I'm leaving him there overnight. I'll be back to get him on Saturday afternoon so we'll be apart for about 20 hours.

This will be (by far) the longest we've ever been apart. And the first time I've left him overnight.

I know he'll be fine, and I'm sure I'll be fine, and I'm really, really looking forward to sleeping as long as I want on Saturday morning. But I'm a little sad about it too.


Next week, I'll let you know how we do.

New Friends

Back when Andrew was just a few months old I saw a note in our church newsletter about a first-time mom's group meeting. It was starting in a few weeks, and I called the group's coordinator that day to sign up.

I couldn't wait to meet other ladies who were going through the same stuff I was - sleepless nights, figuring out how to breastfeed, should we schedule naps? can we really leave the house??

We met at the church the first few weeks, and then we were on our own to start playgroups or a mom's night out.

And we've been meeting fairly regularly ever since. Sometimes we bring the babies and sometimes we leave them at home so we can talk (and drink wine).

I am so so thankful for these girls. They have answered so many questions for me. They have made me feel like maybe I'm not crazy to worry over baby food, sleep schedules and Mother's Day Out.

And now that the babies are older they are a great source for activity when our kids need to play, play, play and we just need to get out of the house and hang out with other grown-ups.

We've even gotten our husbands together so they can put faces with the names when we tell them what the other girls' babies are accomplishing.

I wish every new mom had a chance to connect with other women in the same boat. I know these ladies were just what I needed at just the right time. And they're turning in to amazing friends.

Thank You

We've had a fun week around here. We've been to the park and the indoor playground at church twice. We've been to Gymboree, Babies R Us and the grocery store. We also tried a new (to us) local market, Sunflower Farmers Market. They had lots of local, fresh produce at really good prices.

And now we're watching my parents' dog, Wrigley, for the weekend. Wrigley is a Shih Tzu, and he and Fenway are crazy about each other. We're going to have two really tired dogs on our hands come Sunday.

Andrew's loving having two dogs to chase around. I'm hoping I can teach him to count to two this weekend. One dog...two dogs. I'm sure it will work! :)

I've been working on teaching him the sign for thank you. You put your hand up to your mouth and then bring your arm down and out to say thank you. (I don't know if this is official, but it works for babies.)

Andrew will do it when prompted, but people think he's blowing kisses. So not only is he learning to be polite, but he's loving, too!

I was talking to a friend today about how late I sleep now. I usually just let Andrew wake me up, and he's usually up by 7:30 so that doesn't seem too late to get my day started. But back when I had my old job I thought nothing of getting up at 6AM every day. Now, if Andrew woke me up at 6AM, I'd beg him to go back to sleep.

Of course, I also used to freak out if I was still up at 11PM and now, I think I've gotten to bed early if I'm asleep by then.

Oh, how my life has changed. And I love it.

My wonderful, awesome husband is taking the day off tomorrow to play with Andrew, and I'm going to a little neighborhood spa to get a massage and a pedicure. I have been looking forward to this all week.

I'm going to take a new magazine and turn off my phone and sit and relax for two quiet hours. Ahhhh....

It is now (well) after 11PM so I'm not going to make it to bed early. But that's okay. I practically have the day off tomorrow.

These Days

I don't have any cute new pictures of Andrew from the last few days, but I want to share a little about what he's been up to lately. It's been a while since I've done that.

-He is so fast! When he wants to get somewhere he is off to the races. I'm surprised at how much ground he can cover at the park. I spend most of our park time just chasing Andrew around.

-He loves to read books. He likes to knock all the books off his nightstand and read them one by one. Okay, he just scans them for pictures of dogs, but it's really cute. He's also started asking me to put him up in the big rocking chair with his books. He wants to sit up high like a big boy!

-He's really tough. He's pretty steady on his feet but a few times a day he'll take a hard fall. He often smacks his head, and he'll cry a little bit, but usually he'll just stand back up, rub his little head and keep going.

-He is understanding so many words! I was trying to get ready on Saturday morning and Andrew kept opening the drawers in my nightstand and pulling everything out. It was driving me crazy, and when I stopped him from opening my hand lotion he threw a fit. So I said "Andrew, why don't you just go play in your room?". And do you know, he stopped crying, looked at me and turned around and walked off to his bedroom.

I was shocked! What else can I get him to do? Stay by my side at the bookstore? Probably not. :)

-He has figured out how to open doors. We've since invested in even more baby proofing supplies. We should have bought stock in Safety 1st.

-He loves ketchup! And Gymboree! And the dog! And playing outside!

-He is the sweetest little guy. He likes to give big hugs and sometimes he'll grab a book and snuggle up in my lap. Brian often reads him his bedtime stories and then I'll come in to nurse him and rock him before he goes to sleep. Andrew gets the biggest smile on his face when I come in at the end of story time.

He'll be 14 months old on Sunday.

Water Play

We got Andrew a new water table for the backyard and he was so excited! Now we have something to do when we're outside in the afternoons.




He loves it!




We're going to break out the swimsuits much earlier than I'd thought we would this year. I was afraid he was going to be too cold because we set the table up on the porch out of the sun, but he seemed fine while he was playing. (I didn't really anticipate just how wet he was going to get.)


And then he ran right out into the yard in the bright sunshine. I guess he knew just how to warm up.