A different kind of summer...

Before I was pregnant, I never really considered all of the things that would change about my/our life.  Silly, I know.  Obviously, I knew my life was going to change (for the better), but I didn't appreciate all of the freedom that I was used to. :)  I am starting to get in the school mind frame of things, as I have to prepare myself early for leaving Sawyer! I have found that it is harder to make trips to school to drop off supplies I bought or to work on my classroom when I have to schedule everything around nap time.  Especially when he is currently taking a morning 2 hour nap and an afternoon hour nap!  Not to mention, I'm sure the amount of work I will be able to get done once I am able to get to school, will be rather limited with his help. I am hoping to set foot in the classroom for the first time this summer this afternoon!

Enough about me, more about Sawyer!  We are SO close to walking, but he is just not that interested yet.  I only have about 5 weeks til I'm back at school, so hopefully we'll have some walking feet by then.  He can stand, go from the table to the couch, and help close the dishwasher while standing the whole time. His favorite activities at this point are as follows:  unloading the dishwasher, running the dishwasher, taking all of the tupperware out of the drawers, rearranging the pots and pans cupboard, and crawling around with any toy that has wheels.  He is his daddy's son, loves those cars to pieces.  He just got over a weekend of having a high fever (poor boo) but he seems to be on the mend since yesterday!  Sawyer is quite the talker, let's see if I can remember all of the words he says.... kitty, uh-oh, hi, bye, eew, mom, dad, arf arf, no, Sadie.  I'm still trying to figure out a few!

Since my little prince is sleeping, I have to make the best of my time.  Hoping to start a teaching blog before he wakes up!

15 months, what's new?

We just got back from our first official ocean beach vacation today. I was hoping Sawyer would be walking by now, but no such luck. He loved crawling in the sand and surf, drink the salty ocean water, and digging away in the sand. I foud that it was a bit more difficult to lay arou don the beach with a toddler than with just the hubby and I. Our vacation revolved more around nap times! We made great memories playing at the beach, watching fireworks at Harbourtown (Sawyer wasn't quite sure what to think of those!), taking a cruise down Broad Creek where we spotted a few dolphins... All in all it was nice to spend lots of time with just the three of us and no race cars!

Been awhile...

Sawyer is now 9 months old and has officially started crawling within the past week.  I must say that every month it seems like motherhood is getting better and better.  There are new milestones, new smiles, and always something new he's excited about.  I don't think that there is anything better than being a mother!  That being said, I constantly struggle with being a working mom.  There is nothing more that I want than to be a stay at home mom.  I don't hate my job, and I don't work long hours, and I get the summers off!  But as cheesy and cliche as it sounds, my heart is always with Sawyer.  I'd rather be smiling and cooing while changing his poopy diapers than do anything else in the world.

I keep searching for the "perfect" job that would allow me the flexibility of working from home, but for some reason I am having oodles of trouble finding it!  Apparently these jobs do not actually exist.  If anyone has suggestions or would like to pay off my student loans, please let me know!  I just have to keep reminding myself that I work to make a better life for Sawyer and it won't be forever.  I can't keep wasting all of my precious time with him searching for a way to stay home with him!

Any words of wisdom, please leave below!

15 weeks and counting...

Sawyer is currently sitting in his bouncer (which he's almost too big for!) chatting away to Mr. Lion in his new found "dinosaur" voice.  I have to say that so far, 3 months has been my favorite age!  Smiles come continuously, we've figured out how to make him giggle- pretend to eat his neck, or rub your head on his belly, and he loves to fill our house with noise.

I put away mostly all of his 0-3 month clothes the other day, though there were a few of my favorites that I kept out, just in case.  (Of what? I'm not sure, I don't think he'll be shrinking anytime soon!)  It seems like we've finally gotten the hang of the nursing and are getting into a pretty good routine with naps and sleeping- 6-8 hours a night since he turned about 3 months Woo-hoo!  But only 4 more weeks and I have to go back to work.  We'll have to reconfigure our routine.  I would love to stay home and hopefully it will be possible in the next few years!

The newest debate:  The Crib

Luke says it's time for him to sleep in the crib, and I like him just where he is!  He sleeps next to me in his rock and play.  I know it would probably be best for him to be in the crib when I go back to work, so I suppose eventually I will break down and do it.

It's amazing how much they change in such a short period of time!  We're pretty in synch now, as Luke is gone a lot racing or working on cars at the race shop.  He's my little helper and companion.  I'm loving it now, though I'm sure it may change when he turns 15! (Or 14, or 13, or 12...)

And the drooling begins...

Sawyer is currently staring at Mr. Lion while smiling and cooing.  Apparently Mr. Lion is extremely funny and entertaining to watch.  It took him weeks to notice the hanging toys and just a few days ago he started hitting Mr. Lion too.  It's neat to watch him grow and notice new things everyday.  Other new developments:  he has started putting hands in his mouth and the spit bubbles/drooling has begun.  I had drool all down my arm today from him sucking on it.  It won't be long before everything goes into his mouth!

Today we went to the race track for Sawyer's very first time.  We got up extra early so Dad could get there on time for his race.  We went with his stroller and all his carriers in tow and brought his new sound ear muffs.  He wasn't bothered by any of the loud car noises and unfortunately, fell asleep with his earmuffs on during Dad's race.  I'm sure he'll enjoy the experience more when he's older!  Of course he was perfectly content during the hour car ride on the way up when there were 2 parents in the car.  On the way home with me, however, we had three crying episodes.  Had to stop and give him the pacifier twice, and he had to tough it out for the last ten minutes of the ride.  He worked himself up into a tizzy, the first time he did the sniffle routine from crying so hard.  Hopefully our 9 hour trip home in a few weeks goes better...

2 Months Old!

 I can't believe that it's already been 2 months since Sawyer made his debut.  He has changed from a scrawny little content newborn to a chubby, talkative, smiley, sleep-fighting 2 month old.  He is growing and changing before our eyes, and it just keeps getting better and better.  Currently, Sawyer is 12 lbs 12 oz and 23 inches long.  He is still in his 0-3 month clothes, but not for long!  I had to pack away all of the newborn clothes a few weeks ago.  He is quite the happy morning baby and we get lots of smiles and coos when he wakes up.  He catnaps during the day and is sleeping longer stretches at night.  He slept a 7 hour stretch last night!  Of course I didn't go to bed at the same time as him, so I only got 5 hours of sleep but that's my own fault.  He loves Mr. Lion on his bouncy chair as well as the owl mobile I made for him when I was pregnant.  He's not super crazy about the swing, but he'll sleep in it occasionally.  He also loves standing and "running" when we pump his legs.  Mostly he hates sleeping and waiting for bottles to heat up when Dad gets to feed him.

We took him swimming for the first time this past Sunday and I thought he was going to hate it!  Surprisingly enough, he didn't.  He wore his nerdy pirate sunhat (which he makes look cool) and his little sun suit.  The water was very cold, but he didn't seem to mind being held by mom or dad halfway in the water.  He ended up falling asleep while he was swimming with me, which will hopefully be one of the only times he goes to sleep in the water, otherwise we may have a problem!

Sawyer got his tongue clipped on Monday to hopefully help me not get mastitis.  It was a long appointment and of course he pooped two times while we were waiting in the exam room.  He mostly hated the resident and doctor using the tongue depresser in his mouth.  When they decided to clip it in the office, I was super nervous for him and sad that he had to go through it. They asked me to help hold down his legs, but I decided against that.  I didn't want to be a part of the actual process... The clipping was quick and done in 10 seconds.  He mostly got mad about having his mouth held open with gauze on his tongue for 4 minutes afterward.  He fell asleep a few minutes afterward and I suppose we'll see in the next weeks whether it is helping our feeding issues!

I haven't told him yet, but he has his 2 month appt tomorrow with some shots. :(  Too much pain this week, I am not looking forward to it!  I have found that I dread things for him more than I dread them for me.  (And if you know me, you know how much I hate shots and needles!)  I would much rather get all of the vaccinations done on me than him.  Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.  Little man is awake, time to go!