April showers bring May...showers???

May 04, 2010

April showers bring May...showers???

I am so ready for some nice spring weather; warm weather that I can walk with Steven in and not worry about the rain coming suddenly upon us. Yes, I am whining...

April was a busy month in the Johnson household. I took a very long break from pretty much everything online (completely unintentional) because my husband took 2 weeks off from work to spend with us. Yeah! We took a trip over to Yakima area to visit Steven's great Grandma, and then took lots of day/overnight trips to Seattle area to see our family and friends. Nathan and I got some home improvements done while he was off as well- we painted our hall and our dining room and now have a new dining room set. How grown up we feel! We just loved having Daddy home with us and were truly spoiled! It was hard to see him go back to work a week ago and it has taken a lot longer than I thought to get myself back into a routine where I can handle the day to day to-do list on my own. It was nice having an extra set of hands for a while.

In the midst of all of this, Steven turned 3 months old. He is growing so fast (do I say that every time?) ! He now fits most 6 month clothes, even going a little bigger at times. He has my long legs and his toes are starting to push right out of his sleepers. He doesn't have his checkup till later this month, but I'm thinking he is close to 17 lbs. This makes me very thankful for hand-me-downs. Steven has found his fingers to be extremely fascinating. His eyes even cross sometimes with the way that he focuses on them. He sits contentedly in his bouncy seat most days talking to me and eating his hands. I love his little chatter! Some of his favorite toys are his rattle, the little link rings, and his whoozit, as well as anything else that he can put in his mouth and chew on. It's so sweet that he's actually figuring out how to play with these toys and not just hit himself in the head with them anymore. By "playing" I mean, put them in his mouth and chew on them. He isn't rolling over, but it is just around the corner. I think if I was more consistent with tummy time we'd be there by now, but he hates it so I don't bother too much with it.

Steven sleeps through the night for the most part now, and in his own room! We usually get him to bed between eight & nine, and then he will sleep for about 7 hours and then wake up to eat and then sleep for another two to four hours. I am loving it! Still, somehow I am exhausted at the end of every day. I don't count on it, but I'm usually able to get him down for a long nap twice in the day - once in the am, once in the pm. This is when I try and get my stuff done. The morning naps are the least dependable, and depending on the day, sometimes the afternoon naps don't start until 5pm. It makes for a long day.

Steven is still eating pretty often througout the day - probably every 2-3 hours. I don't mind this one bit though. All this nursing has helped me to get to one size smaller than my pre-pregnancy size in jeans - YES! I feel like I look better than I have in years! I did have a bad bought with thrush a few weeks ago that made breastfeeding a nightmare, but now that it's cleared up I'm back to loving that time with my boy. He has started to look up at me as he eats and smile if I talk to him. It won't be long before it gets messy as he is becoming more and more aware of fun things that may be going on around him when he's eating. I don't know if I'm ready for that constant popping up to look around that my friends are warning me about.

I am love, love, LOVING my cloth diapers. I never dreamed they would be so easy! I made a trip to Target the other day and realized that I hadn't been in over a month - before it had been every week 'cause I would have to buy diapers. I think I'm saving quite a bit on gas alone - not to mention each trip to Target I'd leave with something I didn't really need ;).

Well, that has been our life for the most part the last few weeks. I am so looking forward to my first Mother's Day this weekend. I keep reminding Nathan that it is my first Mother's Day, and I will never again have a first Mother's Day. I'm not wanting anything big & spendy, but it best be something memorable :). Both of our families will be coming down to our house on Mother's Day (since it is my first I want them to come to me - is that selfish?). We will be grilling salmon with some other delicious sides and desserts. I love having family around - I know it will be a wonderful day!

Later this month Steven will be dedicated at my parent's church by my dad. We were hoping to do it before now, but things just got busy. I'm really looking forward to it and promise to post pictures of the special day!

June will bring Steven's first trip to Minnesota to visit his great-Grandpa and Grandma Brake & Great-great Grandma Brake. We are planning a 5 generation picture of this!

Now here are some pictures from the last month:

Eating his fingers