Kyle's Funny Faces

All kids have great smiles! Kyle seems to find humor in a lot and especially when we sing to him. Recently it is not just a smile or giggle but a belly laugh, and it is the cutest thing you have ever heard. (I of course am partial because it's Kyle! :-)) We cannot figure out if he really likes the songs or he is laughing at how bad we sing...:-) I have really realized that Kyle has some of the funniest smiles and laughes. He seemed from the very beginning to be a happy baby, and catches humor in everything that people do. The best is to see that bright smile first thing in the morning! If you tell Kyle that he is being silly or funny he will laugh at you. A childs smile can truly be a warming in your heart. :-)

My Girlfriends and Our Kids

So....I have this great circle of friends that I have been really close with since high school. I feel like we have known each other forever, all though 20 years is almost forever. We have done tons of stuff together throughout the years and made sure that we kept in contact. More recently we have had children around the same time. Now our weekend get togethers do not include "alley bowling" or clubbing, but we are now moms so it is all about the kids. I am very grateful that it has worked out like it has because its fun getting together with the kids. We will always be the bestest of friends and will definately make tons more memories but now with our babies.

Back To Work

The day has come.... Three months of course flew by, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Kyle and I bonded and had a ton of fun. We used the time to visit with family and friends and could not have asked for a better time off. I was worried that it would be awful to return to work and not be home during the day with Kyle. I think that me making it seem like it would be awful, made it better. It has been a week and everything went well. My dad came and helped us out in between the time Pat and I had to be at work. He still got to do tummy time and bumbo time, and of course ate to his little hearts content...
I upon my return had a great week. Everyone was very excited for me to be back, and yes it was nice to see everyone again. It would be great if I could stay at home with Kyle, but with today's economy and the shaky job market its just not the time to be a one income family. I have come to the realization that I can be just as good of a mom with a full time job. Its the quality of parenting and not the quantity in my opinion! :-) I definately make sure that we spend just as much time doing all the things we used to do and now weekends mean a whole lot more. :-)

Food is Good!

Kyle is now a "supported sitter" and is eating much more these days. He has more than doubled his birth weight. I thought we would try some rice cereal and see how it goes. Much to my surprise and as you will see in the video he really liked it. I posted the video to share with everyone. :-)

COUSINS

Being from a pretty large family I grew up with a lot of cousins. I remember going to family functions for holidays and birthdays from the time I was very young. During summers we would get together with our second cousins for annual camping trips and family reunions. Some of these memories still put a smile on my face. We are all a little older now and have our own families and children, but we do try to get together and see each other for holidays. Now that I am older I have come to realize how important family is. I am glad we had the opportunity to be a close family. I now want to make sure that Kyle has this same opportunity. My sister and I were blessed to have boys that are 4.5 months apart, and although they are not very old yet it has been a blast getting them together. I really hope that Kyle and Brody will have many opportunities to make lots of great memories together.

Hand / Eye Coordination

This week Kyle is really noticing his surroundings. He is using his hands to hit the toys on his rocker. It is amazing to watch his actually think, look and then hit an object that he sees. Every day seems to bring a new action. I think that it is an amazing thing to watch how a human learns the smallest things from the very beginning. The ability to react if someone smiles at you to smile back. To laugh at something that you think is funny. Stuff that I have just taken for granted are things that I had to learn too. I know that it will get complex and we will be learning algebra one day, but I will definately enjoy the process that we take to get to that point. I have incuded a little snip it of Kyle playing with his toys.

Important Things! :-)

Over the 3 months that I have been home with Kyle we were able to visit with friends and family. I thought I would share a few pictures from our travels. I am very blessed to have lots of family and friends. I am very lucky to be blessed with grandparents and Kyle is now blessed to have grandparents and great grandparents.

"The most important things in life are your friends, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude towards life. If you have these then you have everything!"

Being a Mommy

I want to take a minute to let everyone know how much I love being a mommy. I have always heard of how wonderful it is to be a mom. Now that I am one I understand what everyone was talking about. It is amazing! The phrase that I have heard over and over "you do not realize how you can love something so much", is so very true. Kids are very special, and in my case he has seemed to make life all so different. I love to wake up and see him every day. I make sure that we make every minute count. I know that it has not been very long but I know that this is really a wonderful thing. His little smile makes me laugh and his little tears almost make me cry. I know that he will turn into a big kid one day, but I have heard that this feeling does not go away. I am definately looking forward to many years of being a mommy! :-)