Playtime: the Rattle

This three-month-old has discovered he can hold on to things, and is figuring out how to manipulate them and, eventually, chew on them. Is this the beginning of "putting everything in his mouth"?

Three Months

Has it been a quarter of a year already? Have you, Elliott, been the center of my world for that long?



The other day, I was watching you as you wiggled under one of your toys. You aimed your fist carefully, and bopped the mobile over your head. After a few more bops, you hit it open-handed and grabbed it, and seemed unsure of how to let go, just hanging on. You study everything, all the time, with so much seriousness. I'm in awe of how, in these few short weeks since Christmas, you've gone from being a quiet part of me curled up inside, to your own person, having a personality and mind all your own, learning, watching, figuring out this big world. Your "fourth trimester" has come to an end, and you're ready to set off on adventure!

This third month brought a lot of changes in our routine. I've been back at the office full time for three weeks, which means you get to stay home and play with daddy during the day. You both seem pretty happy with the arrangement. I miss you two during the day, but don't worry at all, since I know you're in good hands. I get all my snuggle time in the evenings and on weekends, which I can't get enough of!

Your favorite activity seems to be wiggling like crazy on your back or in a seat, under a toy if it's available, but it isn't necessary. Flailing must be a lot of fun! Your new trick this month was rolling over from your tummy to your back. You don't like being on your tummy very much, and if you're in a particularly energetic mood, you'll push yourself over to your back rather than just screaming at the floor until I flip you over. Everyone who sees you coos over how big you're getting and how cute you are, and you tend to flash them a big smile, which delights family, friends, and strangers to no end. You continue to be an overall "easy baby". For this, and everything, Daddy and I are thankful.

We love you!

Dressing in the same colors here was entirely unintentional.

"They grow up so fast..."

Check out these pictures, taken at almost-one-month old and almost-three-months old:




The kid is growing like crazy. Also, getting cuter by the day.

Winter Projects, in pictures

We've lived in our house a little over 3 years. That's hard to believe! In that time, we're slowly but steadily making it our own, and improving it for the next buyers, when we decide to sell. The end of this winter has been busy with indoor house projects before we tackle the Really Big projects outside.

Storage has been added to various areas of the house- a new cabinet near our pantry, and a new cabinet in the laundry/utility room:


The first cabinet, Josh bought unfinished and finished it himself. In our unheated garage. In the winter. He's a hero.


The master bath vanity, with the awesome vintage teal sink and chipped countertop:


The bathroom vanity after:


Here, the counter was replaced and the cabinet polished with finish to get rid of some of the fading & scratches. Josh also took down the medicine cabinet over the master bath vanity and refinished the wood frame, and repainted where it was rusting inside the cabinet. We would have replaced the cabinet, but discovered it's a non-standard size, made by a company that sold to an Australian company 20 years ago. So, that didn't work out. (I don't have any "after" pictures, but trust me, it looks a lot better.)


Simple projects around the house include hanging new blinds/shades and curtains in a few rooms, hanging pictures in the nursery, and organizing the foyer:

Oh my goodness, apparently I can only take crooked pictures. I apologize. Also, I realize I haven't talked much about the nursery. I'll save that for another post.

The latest project was the kitchen countertop and sink. Menards was having a sale on countertop, and because we have a relatively small kitchen, this ended up being a very affordable project. I'm amazed how Josh can get these seemingly major projects done in practically one evening- this one took slightly longer, understandably- but not much longer!

The kitchen, when we moved in, with labels of what we've changed:

In the past, I've mentioned adding the island, getting new appliances, painting, and adding the spice rack.

The kitchen today:


I really like the way the house is turning out. Josh is working really hard at it- and having fun and learning a lot along the way. I'm thankful for his handiness. If we had to hire someone to do all these things, there's no way we'd be able to afford it!

This summer, we have a couple really major outdoor projects, in addition to the vegetable garden, that we're excited to tackle. For now, we've just been raking out garden beds that didn't get cleaned out last fall, and it feels so, so good to be outside working. The last two days have been beautiful for it. I missed out last summer, being pregnant and exhausted and pretty much useless in the yard- I'm looking forward to making up for it this year!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

I bind unto myself today

The power of God to hold and lead,

His eye to watch, His might to stay,

His ear to hearken to my need.

The wisdom of my God to teach,

His hand to guide, His shield to ward,

The word of God to give me speech,

His heavenly host to be my guard.

-from The Breastplate of St Patrick

* Elliott's shirt is green and says "Kiss Me," which is the closest thing to a St Patrick's Day outfit I could manage, even though the "Kiss Me" isn't "Kiss Me I'm Irish," it's more "Kiss Me, I'm a Frog (and may be a prince)".

Elliott and Daddy

I snapped this photo this weekend, while Josh & Elliott were hanging out in the morning sunshine. Everyone says that Elliott looks just like Josh. These two have a really special bond. While I may be able to make Elliott stop crying, probably because I'm the Food Source, Josh can make Elliott smile, almost without fail.

It melts my heart every single time.




I'm so, so glad these two are in my life, and love each other so much. I'm so glad that Josh is a confident, involved father. When he keeps Elliott, he's not "babysitting," he's parenting,* and doing an as-good or better job than I would. I don't know how moms do this on their own- either because they're single or because dad has to be away or unavailable. My friend Beth has been talking about her Josh and how much his presence means to her, too. The comments on her post all agree - Dads matter, and parenting's a lot easier when it's a two-person job.

I probably should have saved this post for Father's Day or something, but my heart is overflowing right now. I'm so blessed.

(* I've got a pet peeve of dads or apologetic moms calling the time dads spend parenting alone as "babysitting". If you're the parent, you're not a babysitter, and there should be no apology or annoyance from anyone. They're your kids.)

Robbers

Basil of Caesarea, a fourth-century bishop and monk, asked, “Are you not a robber, you who consider your own that which has been given you solely to distribute to others? This bread which you have set aside is the bread of the hungry; this garment you have locked away is the clothing of the naked; those shoes which you let rot are the shoes of him who is barefoot; those riches you have hoarded are the riches of the poor.”

From today's devotion in Common Prayer: A Liturgy of Ordinary Radicals, available as a book or online daily.

On not being a supermom

Superhero punching action!

From the outside, it might look like I'm trying to be a supermom. I have a birth that went without a hitch. I'm breastfeeding, babywearing, and cloth diapering. I'm working 40 hours a week. The house isn't a total disaster. We're staying involved in a small group bible study and volunteering at church. I'm starting to plan the garden. Elliott's really, really cute and growing like crazy (He gained more than 5 lbs in his first 2 months!). Admittedly, things are going really well.

Thing is, I'm not Supermom.

• I had easy, beautiful pregnancy and birth, but I know that was luck more than effort.
• Breastfeeding for the first two or three weeks was hard and painful, even though it's "not supposed to hurt". I didn't ask for help like I should have.
• I love my Moby and Ergo, but can't figure out my ring sling, of all things.
• I prefer cloth diapering because, apparently, I'm really bad at diapering, and every time I tried to put a disposable on him, it'd leak. I have better luck with cloth.
• I'm only able to work because my mom and Josh have sacrificed to help with Elliott and around the house so I could get stuff done.
• When I try to work and take care of Elliott at the same time, I feel bad that he's not getting the attention I want him to have.
• He's covered in spit up and I'm covered in spit up pretty much all the time, and I can never manage to have a burp cloth handy. This kid is a spit up machine.
• There are things I swore I'd never do as a mom that took just a couple days for me to decide otherwise. 
• Church responsibilities are barely getting taken care of- again, I'm thankful for all the help I've gotten.
• Small group friends have been the best support, and brought us meals for a month after Elliott was born. I don't know what we would have otherwise.
• Now, we eat out more than I'd like to admit.
• I'm obviously not doing a good job being a 'mom blogger', with as few posts as I've written!

I'm loving being a mom, but most the time I'm feel like I'm just muddling through. I suppose that's the story of all new parents. Maybe I'll attain Supermom status someday, but it's already looking unlikely. Elliott's going to have to find another superhero, I'm afraid. 

I nominate his dad.

Where I Worship

Our church, Grace Community Church, has 3 service styles that run simultaneously. The primary service, GraceMain, is "big church" where most everyone at church worships. Josh runs lighting for a more contemplative service called Sanctuary, and we worship together in a smaller, more interactive service called Sojourn. Three or four weeks after Elliott was born, we ventured back to church, and I was interviewed about Sojourn for this video. I was running on very little sleep, and wasn't sure I had made any sense at all.

Worship Venues at Grace from GCC on Vimeo.

Stuff I'm reading

I could write an entire post about each of these, but, instead, I'll just put these recent articles out there for your perusal.  Enjoy!

The Unexpected Cost of Kids
4 Ways Breastfeeding Saves Money
Cribs & Playpens Associated with Injury & Death
Maternity Leave & Human Rights
Government Survey about Pumping at Work
Top 10 Breastfeeding Controversies in the News

I'll get around to writing a real post someday, promise.