February in Review

Is it almost March already??!! Things have been so busy around here I've barely had time to notice this blur of a month that has almost passed us by.

I've been back to work for almost a whole month now and while it's hectic trying to balance being a full time nurse, mom, wife, chef, housekeeper, etc. I'm happy to report we're all surviving. Truth be told going back to work hasn't been nearly the disaster I'd convinced myself it would be. After shedding many tears and worrying myself silly during those last couple of weeks of maternity leave I have come to discover that contrary to my original beliefs my child will survive daycare, he has not forgotten who his mommy is, and I actually do like my job and my coworkers. I do miss Ian like crazy while I'm at work but typically I stay so busy that the day is over before I notice and it's time to go pick him up. So far everytime I go to pick him up he is happy, clean, and dry and a time or two someone has even been rocking him when I showed up so I feel like he is being well cared for which has definitely eased my transition back to work. The biggest obstacle I'm now trying to overcome is just finding enough time in my day to get everything done. THe day typically goes something like this:

5:00am get myself ready for work (unless Ian wakes up first then I just reverse the order)
5:30am wake Ian up (if he hasn't already woken up): get him fed, dressed, and change diaper and make sure everything is ready for daddy to take him to daycare.
6:00am Out the door to work
6:30am arrive at work
5:00Pm quitting time
5:30-5:45PM Pick up Ian from daycare (unless daddy has gotten him first). This is the best part of the days hands down as I am now usually greeted by a big grin nothing could make me feel more loved!!
6:00 - ?? (In no particular order: Feed Ian, make dinner, clean up kitchen, wash bottles, prep bottles for the next day, make my lunch for the next day.
Between 8 and 9Pm: bath Ian and get him ready for bed. This is Ian's favorite part of the day as he loves to splash around in the tub!! Can't wait to take him to the pool this summer!!
10:00pm or as soon as Ian goes to bed it's mommy's bedtime so she can have enough energy to get up and do it all again tommorrow.

With all of this going on a daily basis you can see how I'm having a hard time fitting the little extra things such as, oh, household chores and grocery shopping into my schedule. In all reality I shouldn't even be taking the time to sit here and write this and am really only doing so since Kirk is working late and I don't have to cook tonight. If any of you working mommy's who read this have any suggestions on how to balance it all I am all ears. Since I'm relatively new at all this I need all the tips I can get. I'm sure as time goes by it will get easier but for now life is hectic!!!

Nights are getting better though we are still not sleeping through the night!!! Ian actually did sleep through the night twice this month 9PM-5AM but I'm not counting it since I think the only reason why he did is because he was fighting off his first illness (thankfully he is feeling better now which means no more 8 hour sleeping sessions, oh well). Though he slept soundly those two nights I certainly didn't as I was waking up all night long thinking "he should be waking up anytime now..." I wonder, when he finally does start sleeping through the night how long it will take me to relearn to sleep through the night as well. This is something I certainly didn't even take into consideration until recently. On the nights I work he is now usually down around 9 or 10pm, depending on how quickly I can get everything done. After that he usually wakes up around 2 or 3 am for a feeding and diaper change and is usually back down and sound alseep in 30 minutes. After that he sometimes wakes up around 5 or 5:30am but many mornings I am waking him up around this time. When I'm off work he'll still do the 2 or 3am awakening but he'll wake up around 6- 6:30 am for another round of feeding, diaper change, and back to sleep and he'll sleep until 8 or 9 am until he is up and ready to start his day. So as you can see things are getting better, we are now getting a 5 hour or so stretch without awakening so we're getting there it's just going A LOT slower than I had originally thought. Meanwhile, all my sweet coworkers are telling me stories of their kids who never slept through the night...gee thanks guys!!
Ian's favorite way to sleep

Ian has gotten a lot more active this month. He is holding his head up well and doing great with tummy time, just this past weekend he has started trying to roll from his back to his front(he can make it to his side and swings one leg over but has not yet learned quite how to get the rest of the way there. He continues to practice everyday though so it may not be too much longer), he is also strenthening his tummy muscles and trying to sit up (when I put him in his bouncy seat now he leans forward so he now has to be strapped into everything at all times.) He's growing like a weed and it's so much fun watching him learning all of these new things. He will be mobile before you know it which is both a fun and scary thought for mommy!!

This past weekend Kirk, Ian and I packed up and headed to Phenix City, Alabama/Columbus Georgia to both attend the wedding of an old college friend, Matt Walker and to visit with family. Luckily I have aunts there who were more than willing to keep Ian so I didn't have to be "that person" with the baby at the wedding.
Thursday night we heading to B-ham to spend the night with Aba so she could get some Q.T. in with her grandson. He was all smiles and really showed off for her splashing away in the bathtub and being cute in general.
Friday morning we got up and headed to the Summitt to do a little shopping, really so I could see this glider I've been drooling over at pottery barn kids, which I'm wishing we didn't do because now all I can think about is buying the darned thing. I also got Ian some cute onesies and things at babygap since they were having a sale. I got one of the onesies for $2.00!! After all that we headed out of town around 2pm, which was really 3pm in Columbus so we got there literally just in time for the rehearsal, which we had to make since Kirk was in the wedding. We had originally planned to check into the hotel first but since Kirk decided to listen to my directions we got lost, hehe that'll teach him and we had to just go straight to the rehearsal. This means that I got to nurse Ian and change his diaper in the car. Than goodness for my cute nursing cover!! After the rehearsal we headed to Matt's parents house for some laid back barbeque and beer (which I couldn't have because I'm nursing) I made up for the lack of beer though with extra banana pudding. We finally got to meet the bride and chat with the groom whom we'd not seen in 4.5 years since our own wedding day.
Saturday morning I got up, dropped Kirk off for prewedding beer and xbox 360 with the boys, and headed out to lunch with my aunts and cousin before heading off to the wedding. The wedding itself was gorgeous and so much fun. It took place in an old antebellum home, the wedding itself in a tent on the grounds and the reception in the house and tent. It was a pretty intimate affair which made it so much fun. The bride was gorgeous of course and Matt looked handsome as always (his screenname wasn't cleansupgood for nothing)! The reception was so much fun with dancing and lots of good food: pasta, fajitas, kababs, a chocolate fountain, not to mention the cake. There was so much food we actually got full!! It was great to be able to make it to the wedding and share in an old friends happy day and to be able to spend an evening amongst adults dressed up with my "Kate" in tow without a trace of drool or spit up in site.
Sunday morning we got up, checked out of the hotel, headed to lunch one last time with my family, and headed back home making a pit stop once more in B-ham so Aba could get one last baby fix. Through all of this excitement Ian was a great little traveler once again sleeping the whole time we were in the car. The little guy just has no power to resist the lull of the car ride.

The only good pictures I got from the wedding since the photographer aka "the drill sergent" according to the groomsmen was on the prowl. Just look at those beautiful, tasty works of art.
War Eagle!!