5 Months old!

5 Months has come with its share of challenges, like a baby that is crankier than usual. Hopefuly is just a weird little funk he is in and will be back to normal in a few days.....
Here's some 5 month photos of the little guy :-)

I love this boy!

Ever growing...

Jackson's new favorite thing to do.... sit! Yes that's right our little man is sitting all on his own! It's darling (especially when he falls so far forward after sitting for a while that he is on his belly and he looks around with a "hey how did I get here?" look on his face. Now that he know's how to sit he loves to sit up, no longer content to recline in his swing or highchair. In the swing he has found that if he leans forward enough he can make it stop swinging... I think it may be time to pack that away. Today for our walk all he wanted to do was lean forward in the stroller and chew on the tray (I think he fell asleep like that for part of the walk).

Our walk today....

It's amazing how one day he kept falling over and now he's pretty steady when sitting, almost like it happend overnight. I love watching him grow each day! Next up, rolling over.... he is sooooo close (I know life will forever change once he figures that out so I am content with it taking a while :-) ).

Here are some more sitting pics:

4 months!

Where does the time go. I blinked and now my baby is 4 months old! We had is 4 month check-up yesterday. He's a whopping 13lb 11oz and 24.5 inches long! He also had to get another 4 shots this time but with a little tylenol and lots of loving and cuddles after he did pretty well. The biggest difference with 4 months is that he seems to be sleeping a little longer through the night, about 4-5 hrs at the begining and then waking every 3hrs after that. Not too bad. Though he does like to wake up between 7-7:30 every morning, I don't mind unless it's after I worked till 1am!

Jackson at 4 months

He LOVES to suck his hands!

We gave Jackson his 1st taste of rice cereal and he actually seemed to like it. He seems to be taking alot of bottles when I am at work (6-7 bottles in 14 hrs!) the NP thinks it's a comfort thing because he misses mommy (I love that I am needed!) but it is decreasing our supply faster than I can refill it when I am at work so we will be doing one or two rice cereal feedings when I am at work to conserve what milk we have so we don't run out.

I also took Jackson out for his 1st big snow... it was too bright and the flakes kept falling on his face and he didn't like that, but he looked so darn cute! :-)

One year ago....

We found out that we were expecting our 1st baby. What joy and excitment we had, as well as some nervousness and fright at the thought of becoming parents.


It's hard to believe how much our lives have changed in that one short year! We went from 'just the 2 of us' to a family of 3. From no baby through 9 months of pregnancy and all the highs and lows of kicks and nausea, through the bonding experience of labor and the joy of finally holding our son and seeing him face to face for the 1st time. And now the thrill of watching him grow into a 'big boy'. I have loved it all (well execpt for the nausea and swelling ;-) ). I am so blessed to have this little guy in my life!

His feet are his new favorite thing to play with! :-) It's way too cute!

The speeding train...

That is what life is... it keeps coming and goes by so fast! And as I have had the joy of observing my little boy grow and change in these 3 1/2 short months I realize how fast it goes by and how much I need to treasure each and every second that we are given here on this earth. I realize that each minute that I have with my son is a precious gift that I am unbelievably thankful for. As I see parent's in the hospital struggling through the emotions of having children who are sick and dying where there is no cure and how they struggle with the love for their child and having to let go of one they love so fiercely I realize even more how thankful and how much I love my little guy and how much I take for granted that he is here in my life.

I also had just the smallest glimpse into what it must have been like for God to give up his only son to die for me. The thought of anything happening to my boy makes my heart want to stop or break and leaves me gasping for breath. (Twice when he was asleep I reached over into his bassinet to check on him and his face felt cold- I thought he had died- thankfully he moved within seconds of me touching him, but in those split seconds my heart plummeted to my feet. That is only a small taste, I am sure of what God felt sending his son to earth).

Remember to treasure every moment!!!

On a less philosophical note- Hoot learned to laugh this week!!! It's precious and he has also found his feet! So cute! :-)

Back 2 work

Ugh, what a not fun thing to say. I have loved and cherished every minute of being home these past 3 months. Now I have begun the transition of going back to work. I have come to learn that the days I am scheduled to work are ok but being called in when I am on-call is aweful! Thankfully I am only part time right now but that may have to change in the near future. Any of you mom's who have had to go back to work I'd appreciate whatever advice you've got (esp. you nurse moms- did you do days or nights or weekends?) At my work unless you are permanent weekends (work 6 weekends off 1 weekend) you still have to do on-call.

I love seeing my co-workers but I will admit that the day I got called in a shed some tears on my drive into work.

I envy you stay-at-home-moms!!

A blog buddy tagged me for a photo meme. Here's the one and the rules:1. Go to the the 4th folder where you keep your pictures on your computer.2. Post the 4th picture in the folder.3. Explain the photo.4. Tag 4 fellow bloggers to join in the fun! (or as many bloggers as you know if less than 4)
here's my picture:

This is for Sarah, (I only had 2 pics in my 4th folder so here is #4 from folder #5). This is a painting that was in the hotel room in Gettysburg where Dan and I went for our 1st Anniversary. We thought it was a really neat painting and decided to take a pic of it so that if we ever found one like it we could get it.