4 months and growing.....



Mr. Handsome~ 4 months old

Time is going way too fast :(  Four months ago today I became this handsome boy's mama, and I have enjoyed every minute of it!!!

So here's what my little one has been up to.....

Eric is sleeping through the night for the most part.  I think he only woke up once during the night last week.  He also falls back to sleep on his own once he finishes eating, before I had to make sure he was all the way asleep before I could lay him back in his bed.  He is still getting mommy milk with the chubby cheeks and leg rolls to prove it.  We'll find out how much he weighs when I take him for his check-up on Monday.  He still wears 0-3 month clothes and 3 month clothes.  I started putting him in 3-6 month pajamas only because he is getting so long, I thought he was going to poke his feet through his 0-3 month pajamas.

He loves his play mat more and all the toys that hang from it.  He smiles at himself in the mirror.  He rolls over from side to side, and can almost get himself rolled over onto his stomach.  I'm sure he will accomplish that before too long.  He is sitting up better with less support, and loves sitting up so he can look around.  Eric has found his voice, cooing and laughing all the time.  He is a very happy and laid back baby, only fussing when he is hungry or overly tired.

Rylie and Liam love their little brother and Eric loves when they interact with him.  He gets lots of love from his brother and sister.  I hope that the three of them are always close.

I love watching how Eric has changed and grown.  It's hard to believe he will be my last baby baby, and I'm trying to hold onto these tiny moments.  I know he will be running around with Rylie and Liam before long.  We couldn't ask for an easier baby, I feel blessed to have him and that I get to be his mommy.


Mama's boy!!



Eric @ 3 months old

What the heck....where is the time going? Our Eric is 3 months old today, and he is changing so much!!!  I don't have an updated height and weight, because he doesn't go back to the doctor until 4 months, but he definitely has some chubby cheeks and a couple thigh rolls!  He smiles and laughs when I say, "Mommy is going to eat your cheeks!!!" and give him big kisses on those sweet chubby cheeks of his!  He is a great baby, very easy going and happy, unless he is hungry.

We just got back from our first vacation as a family of five, I'll share how that trip was in another post, but Eric slept through the night both nights we were in San Diego.  He was great at Sea World and slept through his first trip to the beach.

Eric is still being fed only mommy's milk, which pleases me to no end not to have to give him formula.  He has had breast milk longer than his brother and sister, not because of favoritism, but because for some reason breast feeding is just working this time around.  Maybe because I'm more experienced, I'm more patient, or simply because my milk suppliers are producing more milk than I could with my other two.

On a good night, Eric sleeps from about 10:00pm to 2 or 3 in the morning before waking up, then will sleep til about 7am.  Just don't ask about last night, that was a different story.  I have learned to take each night as it comes, and be happy with the sleep I do get.

Our Mr. Handsome is a very happy baby, he smiles all the time and has found his voice.  He loves when we talk to him and has started to laugh.  When I tickle him under his chin and cheeks he lets out the biggest laughs!!  He smiles most at the ladies and was stuck on watching the girls gymnastics and swimming during the Olympics!  He holds his head up well and sits up with some support.  He still isn't fond of tummy time, but he likes his play mat with all the toys on it.



I love those chubby cheeks!!!!


Mommy loves you Mr. Handsome!!! You are such a blessing to our family!

First Day of Kindergarten Recap

Well today marked the first day of kindergarten for our baby girl!  It was an exciting and emotional day for us and Rylie, but it all turned out well!

Getting back from San Diego last night, bed times were a little later than we had planned, and our big kindergartner was not pleased about having to wake up.  Once we got to school, there was some chaos on the playground getting the kids lined up with their right class.  I could tell all the kids and disorganization made her uneasy.  After sorting out all the kids and getting them to their teacher, it was time for Rylie to go into her first day of school.  I did end up getting a smile and wave as they left the playground.  I was okay until she walked into school and I lost sight of her.



I could tell she was nervous

I felt lost all day without her home, I have all three of my babies home with me on Mondays and Wednesdays, and it wasn't the same without my girl home.  Even Liam was asking for his sister.  I wished I could call and check on her, my husband told me not to be the stocker mom!!!  I couldn't wait to pick her up and hear about her first day.

She had a big smile on her face when we picked her up.  When we asked her what she learned, she said, "I learned the rules, how to keep my card green(behavior chart), and to raise my hand if I need to go to the bathroom or talk."  It was cute that she actually had already memorized all five classroom rules and she kept reciting proper classroom manners.  She even tried teaching Liam her classroom manners to which he just laughed and continued being his hyper self!!!!  She put forth a good effort though.  The only part she said she didn't like about school was, "Mom all the other kids were so loud screaming out the answers, I had to cover my ears, I was the quietest kid, the other kids hurt my ears."

So overall the day went well, and our girl made it through her first day!  It's hard to believe we went from then:

to now:

We are so proud of our little lady!!!

Mr. Handsome is 2 months old



Eric~2 months old~He just woke up and was surprised to see the camera!

Wow!!! It's hard to believe our handsome Eric turned two months old yesterday!!  We feel truly blessed to have such a great baby!

Eric pretty much sleeps through the night only waking up around 2am and 6:30am.  He really isn't on a set bedtime yet.  Last night we couldn't get him to sleep until 11:30, but the night before he was asleep at 9:40 pm.  We are trying to get him to stay awake more in the afternoon/evening so he falls asleep at a decent time.

Eric is getting the chipmunk cheeks on breast milk!  Coupon collectors are proud of their food stock pile, this mommy is proud of my breast milk stock pile!!! I am happy that he is growing on what I am making for him, and that he hasn't had any formula.  We will get stats on his weight when he goes Thursday for his check-up.

Eric is smiling and cooing all the time! He loves for us to sit him on our lap and talk to him.  He is a very happy, easy going baby!  The other night he laughed when I was rocking him to sleep.  His smiles melt my heart especially at 2 in the morning when I'm exhausted, it makes being sleep deprived worth it.  His little smiles are like him saying, "Thanks mommy."  He is also holding his head up and will make little fists to lift his upper body up when doing tummy time so he can look around.  He likes his swing and looking at himself in the mirror.

I made it through my first week back at work, even though I hate being away from my littles, I have the outlook that for now working full time is the way it is and I just have to pray that they are safe when I am gone and make the most of every minute that I am with them.  I am already looking forward to some vacation time I have in August!!!

I love watching Eric grow and seeing how much he has changed since he was born.  He already has a cute little personality and sweet demeanor.

Mommy loves you Eric!!!!

God Bless America



My husband laughed at me when he first saw me trying to capture these 3 sitting still!

Happy 4th of July!!!! I can't believe I was able to get this picture, mainly because Liam is anti-pictures right now and Rylie is too busy to pay attention to the camera!!  How adorable are they?? I love being their mommy!!!

We celebrated the 4th of July by spending the first part of the day at home just the five of us.  We made 4th of July cupcakes and played with our babies!  Just after nap time we went to my in-laws to barbecue.  We had yummy food and a relaxing afternoon!  Liam didn't care for the fireworks a house near by was setting off, he ran in the house as fast as his little legs could carry him. We did miss our family that went back to Florida, my sister-in-law in San Diego, and the Fitzgerald 6 that were on vacation.  Rylie even walked in and said, "Hey, where is everyone?"  Even though the Polks have already been gone a year, we still haven't gotten used to them being in Florida and not around for all the family stuff.  Rylie especially misses her cousins.



Eric's first 4th of July!

I enjoyed a great day with my family I love so much, and I am thankful for the the military past and present for protecting our country!!

Dreading Tomorrow

I don't wanna leave this handsome boy :(

I am sad to say that today is my last day of maternity leave :(  I go back to work tomorrow, and I hate that I have to leave Eric, that I won't be the one holding him, taking care of him and seeing his smiles.  It's not just that I've been with him for the last eight weeks, he was with me everyday for 9 months before that, no matter where I was, I had him and knew he was alright because I was taking care of him.

The lady that is watching him is the same one that watched Liam for his first year, and she is great, but I'm jealous that she gets to take care of him and be with him.  I keep telling myself that at least I only work three days a week, and when I gave her the July schedule for the days she would have Eric, he will be with her eight days of the month, only eight, but that is still eight days that I will be missing out on.

I love being a mommy!  I have loved every minute(even the crazy) of being home with the kids this past eight weeks, being home when they wake up and go to bed, having special Rylie/Mommy time during recital week, rocking Liam to sleep at night, and having extra family time.

Well, tomorrow is going to come whether I like it or not.  So I will just have to put on a brave face, pretend I'm happy to be back, even though my heart and mind will be on Eric, and count the hours until the end of my shift to getting to be at home with my babies! 

So pray for me tomorrow, that I can hide the tears everytime someone asks me about my baby, that I can make it through the day and that it goes by fast, and that I actually have the courage to pull out of the baby-sitter's driveway and drive to work.  I pray for Eric too, that he warms up to his baby-sitter, that she cuddles and spoils him, that he is safe, that he isn't mad at mommy for leaving him and his day goes by fast too.


Mommy loves you Eric!!!!!



Week Recap

I am way behind on blogging, so let's see if I can catch up!!

Last week was a crazy busy week with having Rylie's dance recital/practices and having family in town.  It seemed like we had something going everynight.  We started Monday with Rylie's first recital practice and dress rehearsal Tuesday night.  She had recitals Thursday night and Saturday night.  She did awesome and had a lot of fun.  We were very proud parents watching our baby girl on stage.  She decided that she wanted to continue both dance classes next year (or in 6 weeks I should say when the dance break is over) instead of doing soccer (to my husband's dismay) in the winter.  My husband asked her a few times about soccer, and she replied, "No soccer, I just want to dance!"  All the dancers did amazing, even though I'm partial to a little blondie that I think did the best!!!!!

Here are some pictures from recital week:
                                                       I love her so much

                                                         Naia and Rylie

Wednesday night we went to my in-laws to have some family time with my sister-in-law and niece and nephew before they went back to Florida.  The cousins had fun in the pool, while the adults enjoyed good food and conversation.  They flew back to Florida yesterday and their trip went by too fast.  Hopefully the Fitzgerald 5 will be making a trip to Florida soon!

Friday night we enjoyed a nice family night in.  We watched the Incredibles, ate pizza and popcorn with our littles.  It was great to just relax with each other and to have to do anything for a night.  Last night we recovered from the week by barbecuing, watching college world series baseball and playing with our babies.  It was a nice way to wrap up a busy week.

   I had the best week spending extra time with my oldest and youngest littles!!