the unexpected domestic

Finley Friday

This week has been another week with some new things happening! I love watching how Finley learns and grows and each little step he takes to being more independent. This week we played on the floor and I was able to leave him playing by himself for the first time. He loves playing with the "play gym" and reaching for the animals hanging there. We first started reaching for stuff a couple of weeks ago with one of those bouncy seats my mom got him and then Mrs. Gina brought over a mobile that hangs over his pack 'n play. He loves them both and I do too! I will never forget sitting on the couch drinking coffee and seeing him reaching up for that mobile for the first time. It was the sweetest moment seeing that little hand reaching. Total heart eyes.

How precious is that?

We have been stuck inside this week too. At the beginning of the week, he had a horribly stuffed nose from allergies so we've just been keeping him inside to keep it from getting worse. I mean, nothing hurts my heart more than hearing him sniffle and not being able to do much for him. The thing that works the best so far is to get the shower really hot and get him in there with the steam. But not the hot water! I am not looking forward to the future when we will be dealing with something worse than a stuffy nose.

Finley is 3 Months Today!

My sweet baby boy is three months old today! Three months sounds like a short time and it seems unreal that it has only been that long. It feels like he has been a part of me my whole life, I can't remember what I did before him. [I really can, but it seems a really long time ago and doesn't matter anymore]

He has grown so much since that first day I met him on the outside of my belly! He's started to roll over a little bit now and pretty soon he'll be doing it much better. My favorite this week is holding him up in a sitting position and talking to him while he giggles and coos at me. It's also pretty great that he is awake for more than just eating and crying!

Speaking of being awake, he is a great sleeper. Everybody always asks me how he sleeps and I love to tell them he sleeps four to six hours at a time usually. That last little stretch in the morning, though, is usually spent on my chest. This is usually just for an hour or so but it is really nice for me to get in that last little bit of rest. He also really loves his daddy! I love to see Finley's face when he hears Kevin. His eyes get really wide and he glances around somewhat frantically looking for him.

I'm proud to say that he is a wonderful healthy baby boy and I'm loving watching him grow and being with him every day!

On Being a Stay at Home Mom

Before Finley was born, Kevin and I decided that I would be a full time stay at home mom. Three months in this and I don't know if I could love it more! I can't believe how lucky and blessed I am to get to raise this little boy of mine(ours haha). There's a lot of times I don't recognize myself like when I sleep until nine in the morning. Sleeping in used to be seven for me so it's like, who am I?

Since my job now is to raise Finley, everything I have/need to do completely revolves around him. If he needs a diaper change and to be nursed at two in the morning, then it's done, I take care of it. Before Fin I would have been miserable having my sleep interrupted this way but now I don't even think twice about it. Of course there are some nights he doesn't immediately go back to sleep when all I can think about is how bad I want to just go to sleep but can't because I have to nurse him again or even just hold him an extra fifteen minutes. When that happens, it's hard to just be ok with being awake in that moment and I desperately wish he would just stop and go to sleep.

It's funny because I used to not do things because I procrastinated doing them. Now, I don't get things done because I have to make choices on what to do. I don't always have time to do everything that needs to be done so I have to choose: do I clean the kitchen or do I do laundry. Do I fold laundry or do I take a shower? Do I get completely dressed or not? (I usually don't but that's ok bc I don't go anywhere). But you know, even though I have to choose one thing to do, I kind of feel like I'm getting more efficient at all of that too. That may just be my imagination running away with me but I'm going to choose to believe it's happening.

On Monday I will be three months into this mamahood gig. I feel like we have a good rhythm so far adjusting to a family of three. I'll never forget that Monday morning where I started labor at 3:00 am and I haven't stopped working since. This is the hardest but best thing I've done yet and I believe it's only going to get better.