Back to Work

This past week I went back to work. My first official day back was Tuesday, but I went in for part of Monday so I could talk with my sub & ease the transition a little. I am so glad that I decided to go in a day early because I felt completely overwhelmed. I walked into a classroom of 26 kids (when I left I had 17), a new schedule, and a new subject to teach. This was on top of the out-of-the-loop feeling I had from missing 6 weeks of meetings, staff developments, and the day to day happenings of the school. I kind of floated through the day with a dull headache while trying to remember how to talk to grown ups & carry on adult conversations. When I left on Monday I realized my grand plans of jumping in full steam ahead needed to be scrapped. Once I realized that, my stress level dropped quite a bit. I spent the evening brainstorming how I would handle the next day & decided that I would have to treat it like the first day of school all over again. Good call. When I walked in Tuesday I was ready. It felt right & good to be back. I had a wonderful day & it went by so fast I barely had time to wonder about Jack. It didn't hurt that I knew he was safe and sound with Daddy! The rest of the week flew by & I already feel like I'm back in the groove. It's going to take a little while to get caught up on all the miscellaneous stuff I need to do, but I'm not stressing about it. Some how it always gets done! Plenty of people have asked if I cried through the week, but honestly, I didn't. There were definitely times when I missed Jack, but I knew he was safe & happy with John or Nana (my mom) or Grandma (John's mom) depending on the day. I'm glad to be back to work & I feel blessed to have a job I enjoy that challenges me, and gives me the chance to make a difference in the lives of other people's precious babies each day. I also think going back to work is making me value my time with Jack even more. I look forward to coming home every day & snuggling with him. Even the late night or early morning feedings aren't so bad because now I see them as another chance to spend time with my little guy.

Pumpkin Time!

At our church October = Pumpkin time. Every year we have a pumpkin patch & the proceeds go to our summer mission trips. If you're looking for a pumpkin patch to visit, check it out! Our church website has more information. Today we took Jack to check out the pumpkins:

He was pretty great for about 4 minutes while we took pictures & I was surprised how mellow he was while we moved him around. After that he let us know he was done! :)

I hope everyone is taking advantage of this beautiful weather - Happy Fall!

It's October!

This Wednesday Jack will be 1 month old & he is changing every day!

New developments:

• Going longer between feedings - We're starting to get one longer chunk of sleep each night (3 & 1/2 to 4 hours). It's inconsistent, but exciting.
• He's awake! Newborns sleep soooooo much, so it is exciting that Jack is staying awake for longer periods of time each day.
• Growing, growing, growing! He has already grown out of some of the smallest clothes & all of the newborn stuff is starting to get tight on him.
• Lots of tummy time! He seems to like it, so that's good, plus it's fun to watch him pick his head up & look around (with that cute wrinkly forehead I love so much).
• This one's my favorite: We now have eye-contact. Jack will look at us, turn toward our voices, look at himself in a mirror, & stare at toys/mobiles. I love looking at his sweet face & seeing him looking back into my eyes. It completely melts my heart!

This past week was wonderful. My sister (Now Aunt Amy) came to town & stayed with us. It was a very special visit to me & I already miss having her here.

Jack also met Aunt Mary, Uncle Billy, and his cousins Will & David last weekend.

Baby Jack, you are so very loved!

September 20th

I wrote this a couple weeks ago & didn't post it, but here it is now! Today is my due date! Today Jack is 2 weeks old! This is one more testament to God's perfect timing. I was determined that Jack would be late, but he was 2 weeks early. God knew what he was doing. :) At this point we've already gotten 2 weeks with our little guy & he is already growing like crazy. I'm pretty sure he has outgrown the newborn diapers - at least that's what I was thinking when he peed all over me earlier (out the top or side of the diaper?? I still don't know how he managed it). We've already had 2 weeks of bonding & getting to know him, 2 weeks of sleepless nights, 2 weeks of precious baby noises, 2 weeks of diaper changes, 2 weeks of transitioning to a new life stage... It's flown by & I feel like each day gets better & better. I can't say I'm a fan of the whole hormonal roller coaster you get to ride after giving birth. That part is no fun & I've hated not feeling like myself. Random crying, anxiety, feeling overwhelmed by a new little life who is completely dependent on me - those aren't things I've enjoyed walking through. However, every day gets better - I cry less, feel more excited than anxious, & I feel more comfortable with, & thankful for the gift God has given us. Most of all, I feel like my capacity to love this precious little one multplies as each day goes by. I feel kind of weird putting all these feelings out there, but I have appreciated all those moms who have been so honest with me about their struggles in the first month of mommyhood & so I'm trying to be honest about mine. Speaking of feelings, I love this little guy more every day! I think his Daddy is pretty stinkin' awesome too! You can't see John in this pic, but he was right there hanging out with Jack. Watching them together is one of my favorite things to do these days!

11 days old

Here's what's been going on:

• Eat, Sleep, Pee & poo - we've got about a 3 hour cycle going with these activities & it repeats 24/7. John has names this item "The Poop Snake" we've emptied the diaper genie twice so far...
• Other activities Jack seems to like: hanging out in his swing, going for walks with Mommy, Daddy, & Lucy, cuddling, trying to catch his hands/fingers as they fly by his mouth (he's only been successful at getting a thumb in once, but often sucks on his fist or random fingers).
• Jack doesn't cry often, but makes fussy noises when he needs/wants something.
• He stays awake a little more now & spends the time looking around & attempting to gain control of his hands.
• He is very verbal & makes tons of different sounds & noises.
• He picks up his head a lot when you hold him over your shoulder or put him on his tummy.
• He has a love/hate relationship with being swaddled - either he calms down & sleeps awesome b/c he's not bonking himself in the face with those crazy hands, or he's grunting & stretching trying to break free. It's kind of funny & after a few days we started calling him Houdini because he seems to have the ability to escape any form of swaddle if he so desires.
• He seems to have an every-other-night thing going with sleeping in 3 hour chunks between feedings, or keeping us up all night (last night was the latter). As you can see, even Lucy is worn out today!
• His umbilical 'stump' fell off & scared me to death before I realized what happened.
• We're still getting settled & getting used to being a little family.
• We're grateful for all the love, support, & food we've received from family & friends!

In Love

How could we not be?

Welcome to the world, Precious One!

Jackson William Moran arrived on Labor Day 9-6-10 at 7:49pm.

Baby Jack weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce & 19 & a half inches long.

We are now home sweet home and everyone is doing well. Thank you for all the prayers and support!