may *jack

Here is a layout I did for the scrapjacked page-- I will never win anything but it is great inspiration for me to just make time to scrap.. I made this page the night before I had to go back to work from my maternity leave-- just haven't put it up yet.

Saturday, May 16th, I am planning on going to a crop in Alvarado to get some much-needed scrapping done. Bobby is taking Mason to "Daddy Boot Camp" as the returning/VETERAN dad that day! They will have so much fun! Can't wait.

Random thought: I am missing my long hair. And my blonde hair. Anyways- Bobby & I are off to watch Brothers & Sisters together. LOVE that show! HATE Kitty right now! I think it is maybe the season finale? Maybe not. I guess I will find out!!!

Here is a page I finished tonight "Together We Are Family"

i (heart) sundays

what a beautiful day!!! the sun is shining, it is nice and warm, the smell of people grilling FOOD is in the air! summer is on its way I can tell! I just love Sundays at home. It is so nice and relaxing not having to do ANYTHING. Last night we fired up the grill for the 2nd time since it's warmed up, and had my parents and brother over to watch the race. We skipped church this AM, opting to sleep in instead. Mason slept until 6:00AM this morning! No 3AM feed even! Hope this is a new routine for him! :) He got up to eat, and then came to cuddle with his mom and dad in their bed. (I know, you aren't "supposed" to, but it was only for a few hours) then we got up and stayed in our jammies until noon, just hanging out. There are things that should probably be done around the house - cleaning - but when isn't there? Instead, Mason & I went out for an hour long walk-- Mason loves his walks, even though today he fell asleep half-way through. Now I think I am going to try to do some scrapbooking since I haven't in FOREVER.

May Day toys

happy may day (a day late)! I remember being in first grade making May Day baskets for the elderly in Argyle- does anyone else remember doing this??? We would make baskets out of green crates (the kind that strawberries come in, or at least used to come in) and then fill them with candies, and then our class would go for a walk dropping them off on the doorsteps of the senior living complex in town. Funny how certain things like that stand out in your mind -- 18 years later! I think next year I am going to make May Day baskets for my co-workers, neighbors, and family.

Bobby & I both went out and bought Mason presents yesterday. I bought him an exersaucer, so that he will have something to do while I am getting ready in the mornings, since his new thing is thinking he needs to get up with mom at 6:30 every morning. His dad bought him a Leap-frog singing frog (we have been listening to it all morning!). So which is his favorite?

well, after spending 2 hrs putting his exersaucer together, I put Masein it this AM, and what did he do? SCREAMED. hated it. he looked at his froggy for a long time (likes it better), but his favorite is actually a cat toy........ ugh. yes. a cat toy jefferson has never played with (although knowing my cat, I bet now he will just to spite mason). Mason loves it. it has a ball w/a bell on it in the middle and feathers on the ends. so he holds it like a rattle and then it makes noise and the feathers are soft on his face. Oh well, I guess it is an even trade bc Jeff's new favorite place to hide is... you guessed it... under Mason's exersaucer.

new routines

I am starting on my 2nd full week back at the office. Things actually went a lot smoother than I had anticipated, I am so happy for that! Mason has been doing so great adjusting. I really think that he knows "what happens next" in the mornings- like after we eat, get dressed and play for a while, he goes into his car seat, we go for a little drive, and then he goes to daycare. He does really good at daycare too-- he would rather sleep in his swing than his pack & play but that is just because I think he likes to keep an eye in on the action. Mom comes to pick him up at 4:30 each day and then he talks and talks the whole way home and even when we are home about how his day was! I always say this but he has the cutest personality! These pictures above are his 2-month pictures; we went and got his 3 month pictures taken yesterday- I am so excited for them to come in!!!

Tonight Daddy is coming home from work early and picking up little bear from daycare, so the two of them will have some time alone before I get home. Bobby is leaving for Bismark for 2 nights tomorrow (for work), so he wants to spend that extra time with him. It will be a little crazy I think getting both of us ready without dad's help.

I made it!!!

Well, I made it through my first day back at work. It actually went better than I thought. There were a lot of tears on Sunday, but today, I didn't cry at all, I was SOOO proud of myself! Mason was smiling away and talking to all of the other kids. I really think he had such a fun day he didn't have time to miss me. My thoughtful husband sent me flowers, the sweetest card, and wrote me a love-letter email to brighten my day. My best work-friend Jessica also sent me flowers; she is always so thoughtful!!

He must've been having fun because he didn't take a nap for poor Amanda ALL day (30 minutes was IT!) I felt so bad. Not only that but then he had an explosion through his diaper, through his clothes, through his blanket even. We have such a great great daycare mom -- she didn't mind Bobby calling at 10, me calling at noon, and then she called us at 2 and 4 just to keep us up to date on how Mason was doing. She even called me at home tonight to see how the rest of his night went. Mason is so lucky!

Today just completely WORE me out. At least I hope that is what it is. I got my hair done (no, no more red hair) and I was telling my hairstylist how I was craving the smell of Paul Mitchell Awapui shampoo. Is that even possible to crave a smell??? Anyways- and then she tells me "maybe you're pregnant again!" I told her I didnt think you could get pregnant when you're breastfeeding. She said "I sure did" AAAA! I'm was positive I'm not but now of course I am all paranoid. Then I have been looking at my stomach in the mirror but it is still big from having Mason, so that isn't helping either. Then I remember how tired I was when I was first pregnant with Mason and my mind just started going nuts.

Anyway- I am going to get ready for bed. Yes I am really that tired and going to bed at 9:15PM! (haven't done that since I was pregnant! aaaa!) I am going to finish reading my book that Bobby got me (no, not "Romancing your husband" :) ) and then get some shut eye for another day at the office tomorrow!

ramblings...

(fam picture from 3/23)

tomorrow is sunday. it is also the last day before I have go to back to work. Is it possible to have another round of "nesting" instincts before going back to work? I think I have it. (Bobby might argue differently, haha). Tonight I got so much done as soon as Mason went to bed. I organized all of his things for daycare (three times), got my work bag ready to go (twice), cleaned the fridge, cleaned the freezer, organized all of my frozen milk and organized by date, then cleaned the deep freeze in the garage, and did laundry. You would think I would be tired after all of that in less than 2 hours, but I am not! I can't sleep. I think I am having anxiety about going back to work. I really shouldn't, because I have been sooo incredibly lucky to get to have 12 weeks off to spend with me and my little bear but it has all flown by so fast; time to get into reality I guess! He is getting to be such a big boy! He slept in his crib last night- usually we were putting him in there to fall asleep and then when he wakes up for his 3am feeding, I would always just put him in his basinet, but not last night. He is getting too big for it for one thing. He has also been sleeping for about 5-6 hour stretch at night, getting up to eat at 3, then going back to sleep until 7:30.... which is AWESOME. (although now I probably jinxed it and he will be up every 3 hours tonight) I DO need to work on getting him to sleep on his own w/o having to be rocked, but I figured I would wait until next week to do that-- it is going to be too much change already for him (AND ME!) starting daycare on Monday. (yes, it is probably more ME that isn't ready for this change rather than Mason) I just have to keep remembering what my boss and friend Stacy told me "Amber, Mason's going to daycare is going to be much harder on you than it is on him." I'm sure she is right-- she has 3 kids and has done this before.

Bobby was so sweet and bought me this book yesterday. I saw it on the Today show and instantly wanted it. I called him since he was in Fargo. He called me at Barnes & Noble and told me they didnt have it as it was a new release. I was bummed but figured I probably really didnt need another parenting/baby book- I have a whole shelf full of them. But when he came home, he had it all wrapped up for me as a present! I have already almost finished it. I like this book a lot, especially the 2nd section where it talks about making time for yourself, making time for you and your husband, going back to work... I will have it finished by tomorrow, I'm sure!! He also picked me up another book as a joke-- it is called "ROMANCING YOUR HUSBAND" haha-- maybe it is secretly a hint! Funny story that goes along with this book-- bobby got it at a garage sale for 25 cents, and when he bought it, the lady goes to him "yeah I dont know if this book is going to be helpful or not, my husband and I got divorced." haha! who says that about a book they are trying to sell???

Bobby & I are also talking about home improvements! That makes me excited! All of my hours watching HGTV while feeding Mason are hopefully going to pay off. The 4 main things I would like to do are:

• new countertops in our kitchen (I would like new cupboards too, but HOLY COWS they are expensive!!!) we are thinking granite look-alike
• new toilet upstairs (bobby would like a new vanity & put in double sinks too)
• paint our upstairs bedroom (because of the ceilings, it would be SO much easier to pay someone to do this)
• new curtains/blinds in kitchen, living room, dining room

If I really wanted to, I could think of more things I would LIKE, such as energy-efficient washer/drier, but there is nothing wrong with the ones we have right now.

Well, it is 11:30-- we have church in the morning and then I made myself another LIST of what I would like to accomplish tomorrow- including going through Mason's clothes AGAIN to sort out what fits/doesn't fit. It is already time to bring out the 6 month clothes!!! Yikes!

4 days left :(

^Mason automatically rolls right over whenever he's put on his tummy now-- it makes getting in enough tummy time a little more difficult!

This is my last week of maternity leave-- i am so sad! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Last night we met w/ Mason's daycare mom Amanda to go over paperwork-- that kind of made reality set in for me a little... I pictured me dropping him off 7:45 Monday morning. I think bobby is going to have to come with so I will leave her house to get to work! I am so thankful I have known Amanda for over 20 years (yikes! I never thought of that before!) so I know he is in great hands.

We have been trying to make the most of this beautiful weather... it was 59 degrees today! Mason & I went out for a walk around town -- he LOVES going for walks! These above pics are from Saturday when we went on our 1st "official family walk." I hope it continues to stay nice this entire week!