Time FLIES...and is better managed when you're a mom!

Joaquim's alarm goes off at 5:15am every morning. He's out of bed by 5:30 and I sluggishly follow him by 5:45. Then I hop in the shower as he makes coffee and enjoy some quiet time after he leaves for work, then hit the books myself. If you told me last year that our routine would look like that, I probably would have cried! But now I see the benefit of using every minute to the fullest.

When Oliver is awake he is the object of my full attention! He is a smiley smiley smiley boy, even when he is getting tired and reaching his limit. I can still make him smile and giggle even then, though it may be quickly followed by a "heeeeey pick me up" face and impatient whimper. When he wakes up in the morning or after a nap and starts fussing in his crib, I go into his room and cheerfully say "hey snuggle bug!" in my mommy sing songy voice that I am recently perfecting. Even as he rubs his eyes and struggles to roll over, he manages a smile at hearing that, and then any annoyance I may have at the fact that he only slept for 45 minutes or that I had JUST sat down evaporates.

Oliver is legitimately teething these past few days. He's been a drool-fountain for 3 months, I swear, but only now can I feel a little bump on his gum. We'll see when that thing cuts through and how much wailing and gnashing of...tooth...there will be in the process! I'm preparing myself to wake up some morning and see a little tooth and I'm already finding myself thinking, "how did he get so BIG?" and "he's just growing up too fast." I look at pictures of him when he was a little sleepy baby and already miss it, even though he's cuter and so fun these days.

He's so responsive to his mommy and daddy and turns in our direction whenever we suddenly talk. He will respond to his name, if not too engrossed in a toy, and smiles alllll the time, especially for his dad. Joaquim can make him laugh like no one else can! We just love that giggle.

For now he's still nursing exclusively, but in a week or two we will be starting to introduce some solid foods and I am excited but also a little apprehensive. Will he like it? Will I miss nursing him as much? (I think so!) And I hope those sweet potatoes, avocados, apples, bananas, and that yummy rice cereal I am planning on bringing to the table soon don't wreak havoc with his digestive system! Oh, the worries of new moms...

Yes, we can't believe time is passing so quickly. He will be 6 months old on February 9th and he is already wearing some 9 month clothing. Crawling is probably in our near future (as may be an area rug!) and bibs will be mom's new best friend. In all of our loving attention and care for Oliver, I am learning how to take time for myself and to spend time in God's word as well. It's so much more gratifying to read a chapter or two of a book or bake some yummy cookies when I know that I only have an hour or two to myself. I rarely lose myself in dumb facebook statuses or watching tv anymore, and often wonder what in the world we did with our time before Oliver was born. My mom told me the best thing anyone told her when she was expecting me was that kids make our lives richer and fuller. And I am now seeing that is 100% true. Sometimes I feel frazzled, though not that often, thankfully, but mostly I feel productive and alive. I catch myself often and remember that my two biggest desires were to be a wife and a mother and...I am both of those things. When did that happen??

And p.s. it's WONDERFUL!