Dear Max,

You are well into your fourth month of life at this time.  You are growing and growing and growing and changing every day.  I count my blessings that you are a healthy thriving young boy.  Time is starting to speed up and go by too quickly.  But thankfully, you make sure I live in the moment.  Thank you sweet boy.

You have been going to the day care at work full-time while Grandma heels from her knee replacement surgery.  You have adjusted very well to that environment.  All the teachers love you. 

You got your first illness your second week at daycare.  Bronchitis.  Your disposition was still the same calm boy we all know, but your breathing was very labored.  Dr. Glas was concerned with you being so young, and having this, so he gave you two medicines.  One was a steroid, the other was the 'pink stuff'.  You liked the steroid, you did not particulary care for the 'pink stuff'.   

You still dont nap at school.  You will fall asleep in my arms walking from daycare's front door to my car at the end of each day. 

You started rolling over on a more consistent basis.  You rolled over in your crib in the middle of the night.  Since you dont sleep on your back, you are awake and talking.  You are probably saying, 'Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. MOM. MOOOOOMMM.'

You started solids a little early because you didnt seem to get enough 'filling' out of just formula alone.  Rice was introduced first, then bananas.  You love both.  You are a complete mess when you are done eating. 

You no longer need the infant seat in the stroller.  You can sit in the harness (propped with blankets).  You enjoy our walks.  You enjoy even more, stroller naps.

You have a new nickname, Super Soaker.  You had wet the bed three nights in a row to a point where I had to strip the mattress, sheet and pad, and wipe down the mattress with a wet cloth.  You now wear cloth diapers to bed.  Havent wet the bed since.  You dont seem to be complaining about the cloth (and I dont blame you, the cloth is like a soft pillow on your tushie!)

You are talking SO much more now.  You like to lay on the floor or on the changing table and talk on the top of your lungs.  I am afraid our neighbors will hear you!

You can express physically your excitement when you see me.  You smile and you start shaking your legs and arms.  You also have learn to express anger, an emotion I think you just figured out.  You will cry hard and then stop to take a breath, look at me, and then start crying again.  This will repeat until I pick you up. 

I say this every month.  I will continue to say it for as long as I can because you are a gift from God, and I am so so blessed to have you.  I look forward to seeing you morph into your own, even at this age. 

I love you Max.

Love, Mom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This has been my inspiration this week.

It is the start of the new school year.  And with that usually means big comfy sweaters.  I am in no hurry for the cold weather to come roaring in, but cooler days are definitely more than welcomed.

 

*sweater can be found here.

And speaking of cooler weather, this has been on my mind lately.  Two words.  Pumpkin. Spice.  Yum.

 
*coffee can be found here.

I just might buy these to hang purposely in my dining area.  Its kind of bland in the decorations and style and these are just about the coolest thing I've seen this week.

 
*garland can be found here.

Lastly, something for Max.  I actually purchased this for him. 

 
*teether can be found here.

What is your inspiration? 

Happy Friday everyone!

(A new weekly series telling the previous weekend in photos.  I am sure with each weekend, I will get better at taking better photos!)

 

 

 

 

 

You've probably noticed the new banner.  Yep.  Working on some changes here.  And not just on the ol'blog.  This week and last were a couple of trying weeks for me both personally and professionally.  Today during my lunch hour as I sat across from my lunch mate, as I do practically every day, I heard myself be an optimist.  Then it happened again this afternoon as I speaking with a colleague who is down on her luck right now.  I smacked the top of her desk and said, 'You have to think positive.  You have to believe it will get better!'. 

WOW.

That was me who said that.  Me, who said that with all sorts of passion and belief in my words that were exiting my mouth.  As I walked back to my desk, I asked myself, 'WHO ARE YOU? And what have you done with the old Melissa?'  (I can only imagine the face I was wearing when saying this and THANKFULLY no one was in the hallway to witness this face!)

Little beknownst to me, I've had an attitude adjustment.  This person who walks the earth now is not the same person who walked the earth prior to May 2nd, 2010.  And I have one adorable creature who is a cloth-diaper-that-consumes-his-entire-body-wearing-so-not-to-wet-the-bed-once-again-snoring in the next room to thank for this.  Thank you Max.  Thank you with all my being for making me a better person.  For making me challenge me to be that person I've always wanted to be. 

There are some things that I can change quickly, like the blog banner and the blog button that people can take to post on their websites and blogs (which is still in progress, I need to figure out how to display the code).  There are some things that will take some time to change.  In this process, I need to be kind to myself and allow myself the room to make mistakes so that I can learn and grow, which will then transform into a permanent change.  I am excited, yet very nervous as I dont deal with this kind of change very well.  But I believe I can do it. 

I am also re-committing myself to this blog.  I am excited for the changes I want to make.  I think you, my loyal readers, will enjoy too!  So, stay tuned! 

Feeling very overwhelmed today.  I think its a combination of working full-time, caring for Max, caring for my mom while she is healing (which by the way she is doing awesome), maintaining the family budget, finding time to prepare meals, catch up on my reading and writing (ie, the lack of posts here).  Throw in a couple of phone calls with friends and out-of-town family, an average of 4 hours of sleep per night and it makes for one exhausted Me. 

Today as I instant messaged with my friend Rich, I listed out all of the above and he said, 'Wow those are really good compelling reasons NOT to do it', when discussing my writing.  I tried to explain to him that I dont have any 'Me' time any more, its always 'Max' time.  I am surely not complaining because if I have to spend any time with anyone on this planet, he is my first choice.  This is just a HUGE adjustment for me, learning the balance between Me, Us and Him. 

I am open to any advice on how to juggle it all, especially being a working mother. 

Sunday, Andrew, Kelly and the boys had made a visit at my mom's house.  Kelly and I were able to do our best in getting some shots of the three boys together.  You can see Charlie is not all that interested in Max, but Tyler is.  Tyler shared his blankie with Max, but took it back right away as if he was saying, 'See! Its soft and cuddly and makes you happy.  Now, let go!'.  Here are the good ones.

Thank you Charlie and Tyler for always being so fun to hang out with! 

Its been a busy week and I wasnt able to spend my Saturday morning surfing the 'net like I usually do.  This is when I find all sorts of goodies to download and share.  This past weekend I was helping my mom who is on the mend from knee replacement surgery.  (If you recall, my dad had the same surgery, on both knees not too long ago.  Hmm...lets do some math here, shall we?  Dad had knee replacement surgery.  Mom had knee replacement surgery.  I have arthritis in my knees.  First the gallbladder, next, the knees.  Fab.  Thank you Parents!)

However, inspite of my future medical problems, I did find this.  Freaky.  

Career Color

  

This week Max started school (technically day care).  They were very excited for him to join the class.  Max did exceptionally well adjusting.  No real fusses.  He was so interested in everything he barely napped which made for a good thing for me, as he slept thru the night.  But I am sure it made for a handful for the teachers.   

He is in a class of mostly boys, only two girls.  He is going to make some cool friends!

  
Sending our love to everyone, hoping you are enjoying your weekend! 

Obviously since having Max one my goals was to get back into tip top shape.  I wasnt able to exercise while pregnant for various reasons, one being (the biggest one) Max's head was consuming the space where my bladder normally resided. 

Once I was up and moving around without pain after delivery and was able to keep my eyes open for longer than ten minutes, I took to the streets of my neighborhood.  This was at about two weeks post-partum.  Not bad for a c-section patient.  I started off slow, one day I made to the end of my driveway, and that was as far as the body was going to take me.  I eventually built up my stamina again.  I am now back at my 40 minutes of brisk-out-of-breath walking, which probably equates to a little of two miles.   I have been trying to do this almost every day, but its been more like 2 to 3 times a week.  Again, not bad for a new mom with an infant. 

During my maternity leave, my company sent a packet of information home explaining one of the new benefits they were offering.  A website for being well and health improvement.  They invested in this to encourage their employees to take care of themselves, to live a healthier lifestyle because they are genuinely concerned about us.  (Or atleast that is what I am going with, not the invest the money for this website and basically promote the hell out of it to get people to make healthier choices which will reduce the amount of health claims we will have to pay).

I signed up immediately, entered my health history, my vitals and started tracking my weight.  I am utilizing the exercise challenge programs, the food log and the weight loss tracker.  All three items that support the 'Post Partum Shape-Up!'  Each morning I log my food intake from the day before.  I log my exercise and I look at what I can do today to make a better healthier choice.  I am enjoying this tool, its keeping me motivated.  Keeping me on task. 

Thank you company for thinking of me!   

To continue the theme of being organized and food planning, I found a 'whimsical' (as my friend Rich says everything in my house is whimsical, guess this would just add to that!), yet functional menu planner. 

What I've done, just as the artist recommended, was print out the planner, put it in a frame (cause i have like 12 of them laying around not being used collecting dust), picked up a dry erase marker at Office Max and Voila!  A menu planner. 

The reason for the frame is so that you only print one planner (saving on printing = being green), and if you change your mind on meals, all you have to do is wipe off marker from the glass with a wet towel vs., scribbling off to the side, adding arrows from Monday to Sunday and back to Monday again, making a big mess of the nice planner. 

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note : I resized my download in PhotoShop to fit a 8x10 frame.  The original size of the download is larger than an average size piece of paper.  I had Office Max give me a quote on printing the original size, and it was roughly $25.00.  If you are interested in downloading this and dont have the ability to resize, please email me and I will send you a copy.