It's Official!

Usually the phrase "It's Official" is reserved for big, life changing news such as "We're engaged," or "We're Expecting!" Well, it may not be that big to everyone else, but for me* this news is just as life altering as nuptials or a baby: John Mark is sleeping through the night! I didn't want to say anything at first just in case it was a false alarm, but for the past 9 consecutive nights he's been snoozing from 8:30ish to 7:30ish. He will be 14 weeks this Thursday and he's been waking for only one night feeding since he was 7 weeks, which wasn't really that bad (first 7 weeks were rough compared to this, but not unbearable). The first few nights of this new development were so great...It's crazy to think that since he was born (over 3 months ago now) I have not slept 8 consecutive hours! Sleep is an amazing thing and I'm so glad to be back to a somewhat regular pattern. What's next for John Mark? I think it's time to move him to his nursery and finally make use of the room in which we put so much effort!

Here he is all smiley in his crib. He wakes up as happy as can be!

My first year of teaching I feel like I got a lot of passes because I was a "first year teacher." People were lenient with me while I figured things out. Being the "newbie" became part of my persona and I liked all the help and advice people doled out to me daily. Back then I could only ever imagine being the new teacher and I didn't daydream or plan past the year ahead of me. When people would say things like "next year" or "one day" I wouldn't really pay attention because I just never thought that the school year would end, but it did and I survived. Being a new mom was kind of like that experience for me. I would meet other mothers who had three month olds, but I never imagined that one day my baby would ever be that old and that I would no longer be the new mom on the block. It just happened so fast!

While I sort of miss the long naps he used to take and watching him while he slept, this phase is even more sweet. He loves smiling at Brandon and me (yes, he smiles at other people too, but you can tell he knows we are his mom and dad). His favorite thing to do is "stand" on his legs while being held by his arms. The pacifier is still a great help at getting him to sleep or calm down, but my favorite thing is when he smiles at you so hard the pacifier falls from his mouth. Also, for almost as long as I can remember he has loved having his diaper changed...he smiles the whole time! I've heard that other babies love bath time and while I can say he doesn't hate it, he doesn't love it yet (he mostly just looks confused). His brows are still furrowed so much of the time...I'm hoping that this is a sign that he'll be a good thinker (not that he'll be grumpy, ha!). Since he started sleeping through the night he hasn't been taking great naps like he used to (unless we are out and about and in the car), so I'm learning to unload the dishwasher and fold laundry with one hand. When babies are first born they really only need diapers, some clothes, and milk...while that's good, I wander around Buy Buy Baby looking for things he needs and there's really nothing...I can't wait until he can play with toys! I'm sure I'll eat my words later, but I just can't wait for him to get bigger and get to know him better :)

Update:

I forgot to mention how much he loves sucking his hand and particularly his thumb. Here is is finally using his bouncy seat while I got ready this morning:

Happy Mother's Day

Today I was cleaning out a bunch of papers and junk that have been piling up for a while. In the stack I noticed a printed groupon I'd purchased on February 21, 2012. It's funny to think that when I bought the groupon I had no idea that in exactly one year I'd be in the hospital delivering John Mark and that a few months later I would be among the many mothers celebrated on Mother's Day.

Mother's Day was great. We went to lunch at Brio, then shopping, and then Brandon did some yard work while I relaxed. Brandon did a great job of making me feel special. It was also the end to the week long cooking strike I've been on. I'll be cooking dinner tonight to make up for being so lazy last week!

The only thing that would have made the day better would be to be with our own mothers on Mother's Day, but we will see my mother (Mimi) next weekend when we make our first 7 hour car ride with John Mark. The following week, Brandon's mom (Nana) will be coming to visit. I guess you could say we're having Mother's Month instead of Mother's Day. Those two "glam-mothers" can't wait to get their hands on our little cutie who is growing much faster than they'd like!

We decided that since we were both showered, dressed, and looking decent simultaneously we needed a family photo, so we asked our neighbors to take one. Unfortunately, I'd just finished playing with our new fancy camera so it wouldn't work for the neighbors (Brandon fixed it later), so we had to settle for a photo on the iPhone. John Mark was so good during lunch and shopping that when we finally got him out of his car seat he was starving and not so in the mood for a photo shoot (it's a shame because I had a really cute outfit on him - Brandon wasn't a fan, but it was Mother's Day, so I won that one).

This is the photo I took a few weeks ago for Mother's Day cards, but as you can see from the photo next to this one that he already looks so different.