My niece... pretty in pink

My niece was all pretty in pink last Sunday when my family got together to celebrate our Thanksgiving and take our annual family Christmas card photo (pics of those will follow soon). I got some great shots of this little cutie pie who is growing up so fast already.

Such a quiet little crier and then right back to smiling for me!!!

Looking for her Momma.

Momma and baby... how sweet!!!

Meeting My First Niece

While we were vacationing my first niece was born so I got to meet her when we returned. She is such a precious little girl and so cute. I am so lucky to be an auntie and a mommy now!!! What a blessing. Here are some of the first pics I got to take of her.

Joshua Tree National Park and Palm Springs

On our trip to Palm Springs this fall we checked out Joshua Tree National Park. What an amazing park. God sure creating a lot of beauty in this part of the country. It was a great getting to share this with our baby.

We also checked out a city park near our condo that our son had a blast playing at. Was a great way to tire us all out! :)

 

Palm Springs has my kind of weather, hot, warm and dry...(just like Phoenix). I think Jayden was enjoying the pool too. He loves to swim.

Ridge Run Fall Photos

Spent a nice morning at Ridge Run park with my good friend and her son taking pictures in the beautiful fall colors.

Just the Way You Are

As a mother, I sit here this morning happy to be where I am in life. I sit here writing before my baby awakes and write out some random thoughts. I am recalling lyrics that I often sing to him from one of my favorite songs. I play this song at the gym as my final song to cool down to because it has a great message (and a great beat!).

What's the song, you ask? Well, it's like the title of  this post references... "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars. When I sing to baby J I repeat the chorus and I do change the words a little. I often sing...

When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile,
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
Cause MY BABY you're amazing
Just the way you are

The original just says girl in the second last line instead of my baby. The lyrics are so inspiring and just a great song to sing to children; it passes on such a positive self-image message, and who doesn't need that in today's day and age!!!

1.7.12

1.29.12

1.29.12

Baby J's growing fast

When I started this post Baby J was seven weeks old. I am only now (1/19/2012) getting back to actually finishing it and posting it. LOL.

The following text is from 11.17.11... It is amazing how fast time has flown by. And a week ago today was my first day back at work. During the six weeks that I was home with my little man I pretty much lost track of time. One day seemed to flow right into the next and honestly, it didn't much matter, I was cherishing the time I was spending with Baby J and sleeping / doing household chores when he was sleeping. Before he was born, I never imagined just how necessary those six weeks could be to a new mother...but as a new mom, I quickly learned, with only sleeping 1 to 2 hours at a time for the first few weeks that time off is necessary.
Baby J is now sleeping anywhere from 2.5 to 4 hours at a time, depending on the time of day. When he was born he was 6lbs 9oz and at 2weeks was up to 7lbs. Then at 1month up 8lbs. And I weighed him at home at 6 weeks and he was 9 lbs.
As for height, he was born at 18.5" and at 2wk checkup was 20" and at 1 month he was 20.75". Baby J is a healthy baby who is growing quickly before our eyes.

Newborn at Hospital

2 Weeks Old

3.5 weeks old

1 month old

7.5 weeks old

Thanksgiving - 8 wks old

9 wks old

Christmas Day - 3 months old

3.5 months old

1/19/12: I absolutely cannot believe how big my little guy is getting! It's just crazy how fast he has grown! Today is my day off and with the wintery weather outdoors him and I spent the day inside. I was able to get him giggling, and he's loves to roll himself over as well so it's a lot of fun!!! I love being a mom. It a joy being able to care for this little guy, and to see all the amazing things he is learning each and everyday. But even when he is not doing all sorts of neat things, and he is just sleeping, it's relaxing to just hold him in my arms and rock him. I never knew how peaceful just sitting in one place for an hour or two could be until I he came into my life. In the past I had to always be busy doing something so I could check it off my mental to-do list. Now however he is my primary responsibility, and if rocking him, or holding him is what he desires, then I am happy to do that for him.

Celebrating Christmas

 This year we celebrated Christmas with family starting the weekend before Christmas. This was a wonderful way to kickoff the holiday season. It allowed the actual holiday weekend to not be as stressful and to allow us to focus on celebrating Jesus' birthday, and spending more time with each of our immediate families rather rushing from place to place. All our celebrations were filled with joy, happiness and fun. Here are some photos to remember these days.

Grandma B with our family

Auntie Anna holding her precious nephew

Uncle Brad's favorite quote "It's not rocket science", what can I say!!!

Grandma D & Baby J

Our Family on Christmas Day