Collin-3 Months Old

My Dearest Collin,

You are such an amazing baby. Your personality is just like Dad's. You are calm, adaptive, observant, patient and, of course, adorable. Our time together during my maternity leave from work has been perfect. I have enjoyed our time together. We do everything together and you are a great little side kick. We go to the mall, grocery shopping and on walks and you never express anything but joy and happiness.

This month you really got strong. You can hold your head up super steady and you get way up on your hands or elbows when you are on your belly. You really love being in your baby gym either on your belly working out those arms or on your back kicking your legs and waving your arms like crazy. It's so much fun to watch you.

You are smiling a lot and respond to us when we talk to you. Your smiles are these big open mouthed smiles that can bad days disappear. We have conversations where I ask you a question and you coo back and it's the sweetest sound ever. 

You are totally getting big. I mean super tall. I'm guessing you are about 14 pounds now. You recently had a growth spurt where you grew out of size one diapers and 3 month clothing. I had to dig out the 6 month clothes because you were stretching the 3 month ones to their limits! It's neat to see you change and grow. Another big development: you are deliberately reaching for and grasping toys. It's fun to watch how focused you get when you want to grab something. You are totally into your hands now. Eating them, waving them, grabbing my hair and necklace etc. 

You are such a cool kid. You are so much fun and soooo adorable!

Love you lots,

Mama

What's New

Hi there,

I started a new blog a few weeks ago! I needed a fresh start. It's more general and mom based. I'm keeping it really simple and straight. I'm going to keep My Sunshine going as well, with a focus on my family and experiences and stories, more of a journal, if you will. My new blog, The Dizzy Mom will be more inspirational, instructive and idea driven. I'll be writing about things related to the crazy lives mom's lead including categories like kids, finances, the home, food and more. I hope you'll pop over and check it out!

Love,

Mel

P.S Here is my first post

Collin- 2 months old

Dear Collin,

You are 2 months old. It's incredible how much you've grown in such a short time. You went from wanting to sleep and snuggle all the time to being interested in your surroundings and being awake more often. You are so much fun!

You love to be held and perched on our shoulders or held facing away from us so that you can see what's going on. We walk around the house and outside and you observe the goings on. You've also taken an interest in the hanging toys on your bouncy chair. It's fun to watch you start to bat at them.

Another huge development: you smile! It's totally adorable and heart warming.

You've been working really hard on your muscles this month. Your head control is good an steady now. You can also raise yourself up on your elbows when you are on your tummy.

You are so much fun and it's neat to watch you change and develop your skills each day. The doctor says you are super strong and she is impressed. You are just under 12 pounds now and 23.5 inches (the 73rd percentile!) so you are growing fast!

You are an awesome dude!

Love,

Mama

i am...

sitting on the couch watching Grey's Anatomy after a relaxing shower. It's quiet. The kiddos are sleeping...this is rare. Last night Collin cried for 3 hours before falling asleep for the night. The dishes are done, my clothes are set out for tomorrow. This is rare.

Monday's are my most productive days. I wake up feeling refreshed, motivated, eager to get a jump on the tasks on my to-do list. Today I did just that. I pinned a cleaning schedule, followed it, pinned an article about habits to form for stressed moms, followed it. I worked out. I ate a salad for lunch.

I'm feeling good.

This could all be gone tomorrow, excuse me while I enjoy this.

The Juggling Act

I have a 20 month old and a 1 month old. This is crazy. Crazy to me and crazy in general. It's quite possibly the hardest thing I've ever done. I'm not known for my patience and I like things to go smoothly and perfectly. My world has been turned upside down. Not by my newborn. Not entirely by my toddler. But by the combination of the two.

I'm changing Collin's diaper while trying to keep Evan out of trouble. I'm making dinner while Evan is pulling on my clothes and Collin is fussing in his bouncy chair. I'm at the grocery store with my list in hand, trying to keep the toddler occupied long enough to complete the list and crossing my fingers that the baby stays asleep and doesn't wake up starving. I'm trying to get myself ready for the day while the baby starts crying to be fed and Evan is whining for breakfast. I'm trying to get us out the door to take Evan to school and Evan needs a diaper change then the baby needs one too and while I'm changing the baby, Evan goes again....some days I can't believe this is my life. Most days I can deal with this. But then there are those tough days when I open my eyes in the morning and feel exhausted just thinking about all the juggling I'll be doing that day.

Yes, this was my decision to have kids close together. I want them to be close, to have things in common, to be friends. I knew it was going to be tough. Daily I have to remind myself that this is just a stage....a season in life that will pass. It won't always be this hard. There will be a time when Evan can follow directions. There will be a time when I won't have 2 in diapers. I have to remind myself of this to keep my sanity and keep going.

I go to bed feeling really tired and feeling awful about how my house looks like I did nothing or how I didn't get to work out...again. I have to tell myself that it doesn't matter right now. It's not the time to worry about that stuff. All that matters is surviving these years with babies and toddlers in the best way we can and to create memories to hold on to. I have to remember that I'll think back to when my babies were babies and I want to remember me being with them, playing, paying attention, reading, singing, dancing...not cleaning and fussing over a basket of laundry while they play alone.

So, I have to juggle. I have to precisely plan our routine to make it work. For today, it works. I have to practice this juggling act everyday. Some days, I'm not so good at it and others....well, it's bumpy but I keep at it.

I'll have to re-read this when I have to toss a 40 hour work week into the juggling mix. Wish me luck.