3 months

Dear Brayden,

Today you are 3 months old. I have a hard time believing you have only been in my life for a quarter of a year since you are now the center of my life. I love you so much and would do anything for you.

We had a great day. You fed for longer than usual this morning, and I simply relaxed and watched you and thought about how wonderful being your mom is. Sure, I am sleep-deprived, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love knowing that even though you are not in me anymore, I am still sustaining you. I love how happy you are in the morning. You have the goofiest smile sometimes, and I love it to pieces!

My favorite days of the week are Fridays and Sundays, simply because those are the days I don't have to leave you. Although I'm you love the extra attention you get from Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Nicki and your cousin Jackson when I am gone. You also love being in your swing, on your changing table, or taking a bath. You are really close to laughing- believe me, I am trying my hardest and making a fool out of myself to try to get it to happen! One day while I was at work, Daddy put you in the exersaucer and taught you how to spin one of the toys on it. Your look of concentration when you are trying to coordinate your movements to get your hand to spin the toy reminds me what a miracle life is. Just learning to do that is a big deal!

I took this picture of you yesterday, on October 1st. I am so excited for the next few months! I know you won't remember this holiday season, but this is a big thing for our little family. You'll get to meet one more aunt and uncle that you haven't gotten to meet yet, and I'm sure you will be right in the center of all of our celebrations. Your dad and I love you more than you will know until you become a parent yourself (you know, at least 25 years from now).

Love,
Mommy

Mount Nebo Loop

It Sucked and Then I Cried

I just finished It Sucked and Then I Cried by Heather Armstrong of the popular website dooce. As far as memoirs go, I really enjoyed it. It did do both of the things that most memoirs do that bug me- she over exaggerated a lot of things and at times contradicted herself. But like I said, the majority of memoirs do, so I just deal with it. She is a hilarious writer, and her experiences in parenting are interesting and heart-warming. Here are some quotes I just loved:

"You LOVE the changing table. You love it more than the swing or the bouncy seat, and sometimes you love it more than being held by me or your father and we promise not to hold that against you, at least not until you come home with piercings in your face and then I WILL TOTALLY HOLD IT AGAINST YOU." (I loved this quote because it's the same way with Brayden)

"There were transcendental moments when I'd look at her and she'd look at me and there were traces of recognition and THE WORLD STOOD STILL I LOVED HER SO MUCH."

"Just when I think my love for you couldn't be any bigger, I wake up and discover that I love you even more, and I worry that my body isn't big enough to hold this much love. I worry that my insides may explode because there isn't any more room. I am drunk on my love for you, a sloppy drunk who can't see straight or speak in coherent sentences, a drunk who giggles every time you fart."

I would recommend this wholeheartedly to moms, especially real moms. She is a great writer, and can make even the hard aspects of parenting seem funny.

Horrible picture with a cute smiling baby



In other news, I made crockpot brown sugar chicken yesterday. It was okay. The sauce is too sweet, but if you don't scoop up additional sauce it tastes better. The experience did tech me something though. Thigh meat actually is really tender and I liked it. I never gave it a chance because I don't like working with skin and bones and didn't know you could get it without. I know... I'm still learning about what tastes good because I wouldn't give much a chance.

Random story... Adam was at work tonight so I was home alone with the baby. I was flipping channels and America's Most Wanted came on. I immediately changed the channel. Back when I was like 14, I watched it one afternoon before I went to babysit. After the kids went to bed, I noticed there was a guy who possibly looked homeless at the bus stop (the house was a corner house with a bus stop right there). It was almost dark, and I knew the bus didn't run that late. I was so freaked out. Finally the neighbor across the street pulled up, went over to talk to the guy and apparently offered him a ride after telling him the bus was done for the night. You would think I was over it by now, but apprently not since I couldn't watch it by myself today.

Cuteness overload

I took pictures yesterday, but none of them were very good. I got some great ones today. I officially became the mom who puts their baby in funny hats just to get a cute picture...



Later on, Uncle David came over for a bit, and I got another great one.



At work today, I got to bottle-feed a cute little kitten! One of my co-workers is fostering a litter of kittens for the Humane Society until they are old enough to be adopted out. They are so adorable!

The Biggest Loser

I am a sucker for this show! Season 5 started right as I started Weight Watchers last January, and I have been hooked ever since. I realize that the show is unrealistic, but I still find it so inspiring. Especially at the beginning, before all the game play begins.

Last night's episode was a tear jerker. One woman on the show lost her husband, 5 year old daughter, and 2 1/2 week old son in a car accident. I bawled the first time she told her story and then again when she talked about death on the weigh-in scale. I've always known that losing a child is typically one of the worst things that could happen to someone, but now that I am a mom... I cannot even imagine. I also cried when another contestant collapsed and had to go to the hospital during the first challenge.

Jillian, one of the trainers on the show, has a workout dvd called The 30 Day Shred. Some people at my work have been doing it, so I went out and bought it. I did it last Thursday, and I was sore all weekend. The point of the dvd is to do it every day... but with my job being so physical (shelving books) it would make work too hard. My plan is to do it at least twice a week on the weekends until I get better at it. I really recommend it. I've never felt so sore after only a 20 minute workout!

Profile

And no, he's not smiling at one of us. For some reason, he found the evening news to be hilarious!