Little Moments with Easton

Now that Easton is almost 11 months old, he’s gotten to be a pretty funny guy. He learns new skills almost daily and I’m constantly texting Joe about some crazy trick he’s picked up.

Here are some of my favorite funny moments/ tricks from the past several weeks:

- Easton recently learned how to sign “all done.” He started by doing it when he was done eating, which is when I typically would sign it to him. Now that he’s got the hang of it, he pulls it out any time he’s unhappy and wants to stop what we’re doing: during diaper changes, when I try to put him down for a nap, in the store when he’s sick of riding in the cart. Sorry bud, it doesn’t always work.

- Joe taught E how to scream a few weeks ago. Yeah. The two of them would shriek back and forth and then burst out laughing. Unfortunately, Easton hasn’t forgotten this trick. Last week at play group he spent most of the time practicing his screams. Anytime it would start to get noisy in the room he would scream at the top of his lungs for a good 10 seconds at a time. Luckily the other moms thought it was pretty cute!

- Easton loves pushing his walker toy around to practice walking but now he thinks EVERYTHING is meant to be pushed. I keep finding things like his tabletop toy or empty boxes abandoned in the middle of the hall.

- When he rides in the cart at stores he insists on turning around so he’s facing out. He’s always strapped into the cart and his legs are in the holes so his body is twisted like an S. It looks uncomfortable but he stays that way the whole time.

- He likes giving kisses but always does it by opening his mouth as wide as it goes and then sucking/biting your face.

- I’m starting to feel like we have a dog in our house. Every time Joe or I sit down with food or a drink, Easton is right there at our feet giving puppy dog eyes and reaching for it. It doesn’t matter if he just finished his own snack or hates the food we have, he still insists that we share.

- He started saying “mama” recently, but half the time it comes out as “momop.”

- Easton loves to play with phones and remotes. Somehow whenever we have the TV on, he manages to find the remote, turn the channel and record a program. We find the weirdest shows listed on DVR. The funny thing is that 9 times out of 10 it’s a kid’s show that he’s recorded!

- He thinks paper and cardboard are the best snacks ever. We have to be really careful about leaving any sort of paper within his reach. A few weeks ago I caught him munching on a page from Joe’s textbook.

- The other day Easton was playing on the floor in just a shirt and diaper while I was flipping through a book. I glanced over at one point and saw his cloth diaper laying on the floor. Before I realized what had happened, a naked butt came streaking past.

That little guy makes life hectic these days, but I don’t know what I did without him!

The First Big Snowfall

This weekend brought a huge snowfall here in Minnesota. While I’ve never been a big fan of winter, even I can appreciate how beautiful the trees and houses look right now with a thick coating of snow.

We packed our snowy weekend full of Easton-friendly winter/Christmas events. On Saturday morning we went to a children’s Christmas party put on by Joe’s work. The business he works for is pretty huge and they had activities set up throughout the building for kids. When we walked up, we were greeted by a few of Santa’s reindeer. We didn’t risk setting Easton too close for a picture (we didn’t think he’d be too thrilled about that), but I did sneak this shot of my two boys taking a peek.

Inside the office there were cookies and milk, crafts, face painting, balloon animals, a magician, a musical performance and a few costumed characters wandering about. Easton was too little to partake in most of the activities, but we had a good time watching all of the excited kids. Of course the big event was getting pictures with Santa! The line was huge but we couldn’t resist getting Easton’s first photo with the big guy. We ended up waiting for 20ish minutes (which seemed long for a work party!) before we were led into a little maze where Santa and Mrs. Claus were waiting. We thought the secretive set up was a little odd, but eventually realized they had planned it that way because there were multiple Santas! It was pretty funny but it definitely worked to keep the line from moving too slowly. We sat with Easton so he didn’t seem to mind but he definitely wasn’t impressed by Santa either. The pictures are supposed to be posted on a photo site this week and I’m anxious to see how ours turned out!

We had plans to join some friends for the big holiday parade Saturday evening but it fell through. Instead Joe ended up having a late dinner with his friends and Easton and I stayed in and had Chinese take out. I was a little disappointed that I had to miss the fun so I could put Easton to bed but we had a fun evening together and, of course, he’s always worth it!

Late that night was when the snow really started to fall. By mid-afternoon Sunday there were already 6+ inches of snow on the ground. I was so excited to take Easton out for the first time to experience his first big snowfall. We bundled him up in his snowsuit, boots, hat and mittens and brought him out onto the snowy deck. His reaction was too funny to describe, so I’ll let the pictures do the talking!

Apparently he’s not the biggest fan of winter either.

Trust

 

Over the last year our family’s church attendance has been pretty awful. At first we took several weeks off because we were nervous about having an unpredictable newborn in church. Then there was the problem of Easton’s nap. He typically takes his morning nap around 9 or 9:30. Our church has only one Sunday service at 10:00. That means Easton either has to take a really early, really short nap or has to wait until we get home and go to church sleepy (and as anyone who is familiar with kids knows, a sleepy baby= a crabby baby).

When we actually did make it to church, Easton HATED it. It turns out that being stuck in our arms sitting still on a church pew was not his idea of a fun time. Our church does have a nursery, but they don’t take babies until they are 9 months old so we had no choice but to keep Easton with us. We tried several times but it was always the same thing. Within 15 minute he would be fussy and I would spend the rest of the service pacing around with him in the back, barely aware of what was happening in the sanctuary.

Then in mid October, Easton turned 9 months old, which meant he was finally old enough to go in the nursery. We were out of town the next 2 Sundays in a row but then I kept making excuses to stay home. The truth is I was so nervous to put my baby in the nursery! The people working in there are actual paid employees who have plenty of experience with children, so I had absolutely nothing to worry about. Still, I wasn’t used to leaving Easton with anyone. Since I stay home with him full-time Easton has never been in daycare or stayed with a babysitter. The only person who had ever watched him aside from Joe and me was my mom, and that only happened one time. Still, I really felt like I needed to start going to church regularly again and I knew that bringing Easton in with us would be 1000 times worse now that he loves to crawl, climb and scream.

This past Sunday I decided it was time to give it a try. Easton woke up that morning at 6:30, which was an hour earlier than usual. When he started to get crabby around 8:30, I tried to put him down for a nap but instead he got a second wind and just wanted to play. So we all got ready for church, knowing that Easton was already overdue for that nap, and just hoped for the best.

When we first walked into church, a sweet older woman was standing at the door to greet everyone. She took Easton’s hand and said good morning to him and he burst into tears. Joe and I just gave each other a look, both wondering if we were making a bad decision. But we kept on and got Easton signed in to the nursery and ready to go. When I handed him over to the woman in charge, he burst into tears again. So Joe and I came in, sat down on the floor with Easton played for a few minutes. Once he was distracted with toys, he seemed fine. So we both gave him a kiss and headed out. We peeked through the window in the hall for a minute. Easton seemed content playing with one of the nursery workers so we took our pager and headed into the sanctuary, placing bets on how long it would be before we were paged.

We made it through the opening songs and prayers and the pager was still quiet. As we listened to the announcements and sang a few more songs, Joe and I were both getting nervous and started glancing at the pager every few minutes. We were sure Easton had been crying since he noticed we were gone and we couldn’t believe they hadn’t called us back to get him yet.

Amazingly, we made it all the way through the sermon, communion, the offering, and the closing prayer and never got our page. As soon as the service ended, we dashed off to pick up Easton. When we got to the nursery, I peeked through that hallway window again to see what Easton was doing without us but I didn’t see him playing anywhere. Then I looked right under the window where one of the teenaged girls working in the nursery was rocking a baby. I did a double take and realized that the silent, sleeping baby in her arms was Easton!

When we picked him up, we were told that he had fallen asleep almost right away and stayed that way for the entire hour! I was absolutely stunned. I couldn’t believe that my kid—the one who fights sleeping every time we try to get him to nap, has only been away from both of us once before, has never been left with a stranger, and cries when we leave the room he’s in for more than a minute—had spent his first day in the nursery sleeping in a stranger’s lap!

Here I had been avoiding church for so long because I didn’t think Easton would tolerate being away from us and he did better than we ever could’ve imagined. It must be God’s way of telling me that I need stop making excuses and stop worrying and put my trust in Him. I’m going to do my best to do just that. So from now on if you need me on Sunday mornings, I’ll be in church listening to God’s word and not staring at that pager too much.

Finding my Community

 

Today I’m linking up with Becky at From Mrs to Mama. I just started following Becky’s blog a few weeks ago but when I saw this link up, I knew I had to join.

I started blogging back in 2009 a few months after getting married. I was the first of my friends to get married and I longed for a community of other young newlyweds who would understand what my life was like. It took a few months to get the hang of blogging regularly and soon after I found a bunch of great newlywed bloggers to follow. I loved having this new group of women to interact with and, let’s face it, the snoopy side of me loved getting these little glimpses into others’ lives.

I blogged there for over two years before I started having trouble keeping it up. I was busy working, going to grad school, moving into our new house, and planning for our coming baby. While a lot of other bloggers I followed seemed to make it work despite being even busier, I just didn’t make blogging enough of a priority and it started to feel like a chore. So last August it was with a sigh of relief that I closed up my blog.

My son Easton was born on January 16th, 2012 [edit:I just had to go back and change this date after I realized I listed my due date and not his actual birthday! Oops… that’s embarrassing!]  (I can’t believe he’s nearly one!) and soon after I found myself wishing I still had a blog. Not so much because I wanted to document his life (though that was also true), but because I longed to be a part of that community again. Just like I had been the first in my group of friends to get married, I ended up being the first to have a baby. I still loved my old friends but wanted to connect with a group of women like me again. After debating for awhile, I started blogging here. I’m still trying to find balance in my life so I have time to sit down and blog but after nearly a year of motherhood, I’m starting to make it work

So who am I?

I’m a 26 year old Minnesota girl. I love living in the Midwest but hate the snow and cold weather.

During my 10 years in the workforce I have been a lifeguard, office assistant, nanny, personal care assistant, substitute teacher, and summer school teacher. I am passionate about education. I finished a graduate degree in Special Education last December and was excited to use it this fall. I ended up falling head over heels in love with my new son and decided to stay home with him instead. I definitely made the right decision but I still look forward to being a Special Ed teacher one day.

I love love love to travel but I’m also a serious homebody.

I am a major type-A personality. I love organization, budgets, and schedules and I am easily stressed.

I have one sister who is my polar opposite in nearly every way. We were really close as kids though we’ve grown apart as adults. We live 5 hours apart and only see each other 4-5 times a year. Our lives are completely different which makes it tough for us to relate to each other. Still, I love her to death and I hope that one day we’ll be close again.

My parents separated two and a half years ago and eventually got divorced. I’ll be honest, that really sucked. I’m mostly over it now but it makes life really stressful around the holidays and my sister and I still get caught in the middle a lot.

My husband is my best friend. We met during our first week of college and he quickly became my first and only boyfriend. We were engaged at 21 and married at 23. People used to question how I knew he was “the one” when he was the only person I ever dated but I never had any doubts. We’ve been married 3.5 years now and we still do almost everything together.

I have ups and downs in my life just like everyone else, but overall I feel so blessed. Life with my two boys is (as my blog title says) imperfect and unpredictable but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

This and That

- I did a mini overhaul of my blog last night including changing its name! My old name was always intended to be a place holder until I came up with something I wanted to be more permanent. My little home on the web is now  called Imperfect and Unpredictable. I think that describes my life as a SAHM as well as anything could! I also added a new banner and pictures. It’s nothing too fancy but it’s a definite step up from what I had slopped together months ago.

- Thanksgiving is in 9 days and we are still working on solidifying our plans for the holiday. This is one of the times that having divorced parents really sucks. This year it’s my in-laws’ turn to have Thanksgiving on the actual day so we’ll be at my SIL’s house on Thursday. That means we have to find time to see both of my parents individually on Friday. I wanted to go to my extended family’s gathering too but that’s scheduled for Saturday and that’s just too much driving and socializing for Easton. I’m a little bummed that we’re going to have to skip it but 4 Thanksgivings is crazy anyway.

- Easton has been spending the majority of the night co-sleeping with us since he was born. I loved having him in bed with us but I realized last week that it was time to end that. Easton has never been a good sleeper but now he started waking half a dozen times a night and crawling  all over me. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve woken up to his butt in my face as he leans over me to slap Joe in the face (you can imagine how much Joe loves that wake up). So starting on Sunday we started working on keeping him in his room all night. The first night wasn’t too bad but last night was BRUTAL. He woke up at 9:30, 11:30, and 1:30 and it took me about 15-20 minutes each time to get him back down. Then he was up at 3:30 for 45 minutes! Every time I thought he was asleep I would get back in bed only to have him pop up again. Joe finally got him down for me at 4:15 but then he was up again at 5:30 and never went back to sleep. I know it’s one of those things that’s going to take time before it gets better but I do NOT want any more nights like that one!

- I’ve always been terrible about getting my Christmas shopping done early. I tend to be the one in the store on December 23rd rushing to get my last few gifts. This year we’ve already ordered a few gifts and have ideas for many more. I just need to come up with a good idea for my husband now… I can think of a million little things he would like but I always struggle to find something really special for him. I’m hoping something awesome will come to me soon!

A Perfectionist and a Baby Don’t Always Mix

It’s no secret that I have a Type A personality. I’m a hardcore perfectionist, I like routine, I prefer to know my upcoming schedule many days (or preferably weeks) in advance, I love to organize things (bonus points if I get to use my label maker!), and I feel stressed when my house isn’t in order. Unfortunately, keeping my home perfectly neat was a challenge before I had a baby. With Easton in my life, it’s downright impossible.

It’s incredible how much more there is to clean and take care of around the house since adding Easton to our family. First there’s the added laundry. Then there’s the toys books everywhere that need to picked up 73,000 times a day. The mess left behind in the kitchen after every meal might be the worst of all. I have a weekly cleaning schedule to keep me on task (Type A… remember?) and I attempt to do 1 load of laundry each day so our teeny laundry room doesn’t end up buried in clothes. Still, some days staying caught up is overwhelming. If cleaning was all I had to do, it would be a piece of cake. But, of course, there is the matter of that little baby who likes to be entertained by his mama most of the day and my need for a little bit of downtime so I don’t completely lose my sanity. Some days the stars align and everything gets done on time. Most days, though, are like today.

The laundry is clean… but still in the dryer.

The living room was vacuumed… but the bathroom counters are dirty.

Dinner was made… but the garbage cans were left at the end of the driveway (until Joe brought them back up when he got home).

The kitchen was cleaned up after dinner… but the high chair dropcloth that was airing out on the deck and blew down into the yard is still out there somewhere.

Learning to ignore the mess and embrace the chaos that is life with a baby has been an adjustment. Sometimes I look around and shake my head at the mess surrounding. Still, at the end of the day I would much rather have a messy house and a baby who was played with than a neglected child and a spotless home.

Bittersweet Milestones

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 9 months as a mom it’s that parenting is full of bittersweet moments. Each time my little guy hits new milestones I smile and cheer and take pictures and call/text everyone to share the good news. But then when the moment passes, I sigh. I shake my head and sometimes even tear up wondering how my baby is already big enough to (fill in the blank). In the past 9 months it’s already happened so many times.

When Easton was born I was delighted that my baby was FINALLY here. But I also mourned the end of my first pregnancy. The end of carrying my boy with me everywhere and feeling his sweet kicks all day long.

I was so excited when he rolled over for the first time. But I was sad that the helpless little newborn I had brought home from the hospital was no longer so helpless.

When Easton outgrew his newborn clothes and was able to fit in the next size up I couldn’t wait to dress him in all of the adorable outfits waiting in his closet. But I cried as I packed up his smallest pajamas and knew he would never wear them again.

At 4.5 months old Easton started sitting on his own. I realized it was so much easier to engage him and play with him when he didn’t need to be laying on the floor or held. But he was starting to need me just a little bit less and that made me sad.

Then he started crawling. And then he started crawling FAST. I loved watching him realize that he could move on his own. He was able to get to his toys on his own and entertain himself more which gave me a little more freedom. But that also meant he didn’t need to be carried as much and he didn’t need my help as often. He could play at my feet but he could also crawl away from me and go somewhere else.

It’s hard to watch my baby get older but at the same it’s very exciting. I know this is only the beginning of bittersweet milestones. One day I’ll have mixed emotions when he  first goes to kindergarten, when he plays his first T-ball game, gets braces, learns to drive a car, or (gulp) gets his first girlfriend. I’ll do my best to focus on the happy side of Easton’s milestones, but I know it won’t always be easy. I guess that’s just what parenting is about.

This and That

- Whenever I plan to write one of these posts I think of a million things to include throughout the day. But when I actually sit down to write it? Crickets. Sigh.

- I’m still on a mission to make some “mom friends” but I’m not someone who makes friends easily. I’ve been taking Easton to our weekly playgroup and a weekly baby story time at the library. It’s been really nice to be able to talk with other moms who are in the same stage of life and don’t make me feel completely boring.

- Joe and I have been on ONE date since Easton was born at that was over 2 months ago. I wish we could get out together a little more often but I have such a hard time leaving Easton. My mom watched him the last time we went out and it went just fine for her but she lives 2.5 hours away so it’s not like she can watch him whenever I want. I know there are other people in our lives that would love to watch him but I’m too neurotic to let them at this point. It’s not that I don’t trust them to take good care of him, because I completely do, I just don’t trust them to take care of him EXACTLY like I do. I told you I’m neurotic.

- Now that Easton is starting to get more independent and seems less like a baby every day I’m kind of sort of starting to get that baby itch again. Just a tiny little bit. I don’t plan on doing anything about it because I would go nuts with two kids right now but it’s still on my mind more lately.

- If you followed my old blog you might remember that we got a cute little kitten named Clyde 3 years ago. He was our baby for 2 years and we adored him. Now? Not so much. It’s really amazing that he is living with us. I feel really awful for being so annoyed with him all the time but OH MY GOSH that cat is obnoxious. He paws at the closet door just outside our bedroom around 3:00 every morning until someone gets up and feeds him or kicks him downstairs. He rolls in my clean laundry constantly, meows right outside the baby’s door right after I’ve gotten him down for a nap, sneaks out onto the deck when we open the door, and hides in closets or under the bed and refuses to come out. He even had a bladder issue a few months back that caused him to start peeing all over the house. I realize that wasn’t his fault at all but it drove me nuts that somehow he always managed to find the baby’s stuff to pee on. I’m trying to be more patient with him but I’m not doing so well with it…

- We have been contemplating painting all of the wood trimwork in our house white. I really love the look of white trim and think it would make our house look a million times cuter and more modern but I’m not excited about all the work it will take to get there. The plan is to try it out in our teensy little entry and then if we hate it or decide it’s too much work we can just replace that small amount of trim.

- Joe started a new job this week! He had been with his old company since right out of college (4 years ago) and he was ready for a change. Joe’s still adjusting to the new place (those first 1-2 weeks of a job are always weird when you don’t really know what you’re doing) but I think it’s going to be great for him. Instead of commuting an hour by train, he now drives 12 minutes to work. That means that he’s home around 5:15 now instead of a little after 6. It’s been so nice to have him here sooner so he can play with Easton before he starts getting cranky.

This and That

- My kid’s new favorite thing to do is crawl over to the cat dishes and play with them. The cat always eats his food right away so luckily there’s none of that to go in his mouth but he still manages to stick the food dish in his mouth, tip the water over or (my favorite) sit down right in the middle of the water if I don’t catch him fast enough. If I see him near the dishes and say “No, not for Easton!” he crawls away, but he tests me on it about 934 trillion times a day. It drives me bonkers! If anyone has a tip on how to keep him out of the dishes, I’m all ears!

- I was the first of my friends to get married and the first to have a baby. The majority of them are still in a completely different phase of life than I am. While it’s kind of cool to be the first one to do things, it’s hard that I don’t have any other mom friends. I’ve started going to a weekly baby playgroup through our school district and a baby story time at the library so Easton and I can meet other moms and babies. Activities like that are SO out of my comfort zone but I’m trying to branch out and I’m actually enjoying it quite a bit.

- My sister graduates from cosmetology school on Friday and my mom, Easton and I are making the 5 hour drive there and back to celebrate. I haven’t had a chance to visit yet in the 2 years my sister has lived there so it’ll be fun to see her city and watch her graduate. That being said, I am NOT excited about being trapped in the car for 10 hours with a baby who hates being stuck in his car seat.

- Last night we were giving Easton his bath when all the sudden we realized he had pooped in the tub! That was definitely a new first. Joe and I thought it was pretty funny. I ended up breaking out the bleach and giving the tub a good scrub (which it probably needed anyway) so now it’s probably the cleanest it’s ever been.

Sophisticated Taste Buds

If you read my old blog, you may remember that my husband is a horribly picky eater. To be fair, he has improved a ton and now eats a lot of foods he would never have even looked at 5 years ago. Still, the list of things he hates is still long enough to make meal planning a bit of a challenge.

I’m the opposite. There are very few foods I don’t like and even fewer that I flat-out hate. I decided long ago that our future kids WERE going to follow in my footsteps because I refused to raise fussy eaters. Yeah, about that…

We started giving Easton solid foods a few days before he turned 6 months. The first day he had mashed avocado, and he did surprisingly well.

(Here’s a quick video of the occasion.)

The next day, I tried feeding Easton some more avocado and he was NOT having it. He pursed his lips together and turned his head every single time the spoon came near. I shrugged it off and figured he wasn’t in the mood. But the same thing happened the next time. And the next. And the next. I tried feeding Easton mashed bananas, sweet potatoes, pears, and oatmeal but nothing interested him enough to even taste it. I occasionally managed to sneak a bite or 2 into his mouth when he was distracted but he always gave me a dirty look while spitting out the entire bite (and once even bursting into tears). So I took a break for a few days while I tried to figure out how to get the kid to eat. The problem wasn’t that he didn’t like the taste of some foods, he just didn’t even like the idea of food in his mouth.

I decided to give baby-led weaning a shot. I gave Easton a wide array of foods like steamed green beans, carrots, apples, peaches, and whole wheat crackers and let him “feed” himself. So far, that hasn’t worked either. He spends most of each meal playing with the food and dropping it over the side of his tray. Occasionally a piece of food gets into his mouth but it’s always spit back out again.

The other day I was eating some leftover baked ziti while I watched Easton fling his carrots onto the floor. As an experiment, I placed one of the noodles from my plate onto his tray. He picked it up and stuck it and his mouth and his face lit up. He gnawed on that one piece of ziti for a good 10 minutes. He only managed to actually eat about 1/3 of the noodle but he was clearly loving it.

Since then he’s eaten pasta a second time and loved it just as much. He also started chowing down on bits of cheese but few other things make it into his stomach. While I’d love to blame the fussiness all on my husband, a love of pasta and cheese clearly makes him his mother’s child. Apparently he just doesn’t want bland vegetables and fruits, he’d prefer flavorful spices and adult food. I guess I’m just going to go with it, so tomorrow on the menu is prime rib!

Why My Home Could be Declared a Disaster Zone…

Life with my 6 month old babe has been crazy lately. Practically overnight my calm, immobile little baby has turned into to a nearly-mobile, adventurous kid. I just love how fun and playful he’s become. On the other hand, it has suddenly become almost impossible to get anything done. Easton can’t crawl yet, but he squirms and flops around until he ends up on his belly, which makes him horribly mad. If I leave him to play by himself for more than 20 seconds, his shrieks summon me back. He hates being contained now that he can move around so the jumperoo rarely makes him happy anymore.

On top of that, I’m fairly certain Easton is teething now. Granted, I’ve been “fairly certain” 3 times before with no results, but this time I really think I’m right. I really hope I’m right because if this fussy period isn’t the result of teeth popping in, I hate to think about how crabby he’ll be when he’s actually teething. I’ve tried about 900 different remedies but nothing has made much of a difference.

Still, I love this little guy. Easton is trying so hard to figure out this crawling thing and he recently figured out how to pull up to standing in his crib. He is so proud of himself when he’s up and he always gives a huge grin. As Easton figures all of this stuff out, I can’t help but have mixed feelings. I absolutely love watching him reach new milestones and I’m so proud when he figures out something new. On the other hand, every milestone brings him closer to the end of babyhood and the beginning of toddlerhood and I’m SO not ready for that yet.

Just Can’t Stay Away…

Guess what?!

I’m back!

It’s been 10 months since I stopped blogging on my newlywed blog. At the time I thought I was done with the whole blogging thing for good. I had posted on and off for two and a half years and I was tired of coming up with interesting topics, writing, and feeling guilty when I put off posting for too long.

But the truth is, I really miss it. I liked having a written account of my life that I could look back on in the future. So here I am, back to blogging again.

When I wrote my last post on The First-Year Wife I was 20 weeks pregnant and had just found out we were having a boy.

Our sweet baby, Easton Joseph, was born January 16th, exactly one week late (which made his mama crazy at the time!).

I may be biased, but I think he’s absolutely gorgeous!  Easton has red hair like his daddy… in fact, he looks pretty much like a miniature version of Joe!

1 Week Old

E is already 5 months old now! I can’t believe he has been here so long. Yet in these 5 months he has wormed his way so deep into our hearts! He is such a sweet boy with a huge personality!

I could promise you that this won’t turn into a blog about my baby, but the truth is it probably will.  I want to use this blog to record my days with Easton along with all of his milestones and my life as a stay-at-home mom (which is an unexpected blessing that I will blog about in the future!) I would like to have a record of the first 5 months of our lives together on here as well, so I am planning to dedicate the next several weeks to catch up on what we’ve been doing. (In other words, don’t be alarmed when Easton seems to age rapidly in pictures over the coming weeks!)

I’m not sure how frequent my posting will be this time around… I’m just going to play it by ear. But I’ve missed being a part of the blogging world and I’m so excited to start it up again!