Learning is hard work!

Since our last post we celebrated a wonderful Thanksgiving and got our bellies nice and full! Phoenix, sadly, only feasted on milk- but he seemed to enjoy it enough! He wore a dapper little suit complete with newsboy hat and a handsome smile :) I was quite smitten to say the least! also in town were Wiltons parents from NJ which is always sure to be a good time :)

Ill be following up this post with what wouldve been the remainder of my planned posting, but im having some issues with the blogger site letting me put photos up so...TBC :)

milestones in the making...

well, last night, just a few days shy of his 3 month birthday, Phoenix spent his first night in his crib! it wasnt fun, and no one slept by any means, but he was forced to spend the entire night in there none the less! and thats an accomplishment i believe! i will say, although i didnt get quantity in the sleep dept., i got better quality! not having him tossing and turning and grunting in my ear allowed for deeper sleep. now if we could just get back to sleeping long stretches but in the crib, not our bedroom. well keep practicing as hard as it may be on my tired eyelids! i have lots of good entertainment during the night thanks to my iphone and its array of apps such as zulily, facebook, groupon ( which im all over those sales as soon as they post at midnight haha), fancy, pinterest, ruelala and ideeli. between those i stay awake and entertained. so hooray for that milestone! 

happy thanksgiving week to everyone by the way! I am looking forward to family time and yummy food- hoping baby can make it through the hiccup in his routine..we shall see! naps will take priority over family time so heres to hoping everyone understands! 

before putting phoenix into his crib last night our elf, who goes unnamed until phoenix is old enough to name him, was watching! i wonder if he also saw/ heard him crying all night??

having just put him down- sleeping= success!

shortly after lol- wide awake and spotted the camera! 

learning to grap what he seeks! very focused on the goal in mind...

annnnnd he got it!

enjoying the nice weather for November! Phoenix now in his new big boy position in the moby! 

knitted christmas socks arrived!

time flies!

i havent posted in 2 weeks- it feels like yesterday! I follow this other girls blog that i use to work with and she posts daily!! DAILY! how, when, where??? oh my! and she has 2 babies and a third on the way! she must type in the shower or something i have no idea! haha- as we speak i have a 3 month old who is waking from a nap and often i can talk him into about 3 more min. before he wakes again! and we are currently.....brb- crying baby ( see what i mean!) ok, paci in, blankie in place... well see how long he sleeps this time! so as i was saying- idk how this girl does it? and she posts pics with every post as well- its a mystery! It makes me feel as though shes perfectly organized and crafty ( yes she does crafts too) and i can barley find time to pick up and brush my teeth! 

this brings me to my next point- i LOATHE the idea of retrning to work in 6 weeks.. i mean, just typing the number "6" makes my skin crawl..and for 2 reasons. 1) who doesnt want to be off work for over 4 months? and then its almost impossible to gear up to return! 2) who wants to leave their baby after spending that much time by their side? not me! and granted, my mom is my "daycare" so that makes things much easier, but i dont want to miss anything- and id rather stay home and be domestic and crafty and a mom. but i guess not everyone can have that luxury in life. I am the "insurance" winner in our family, meaning in a world of overpriced coverage, my job offers the better "deal"- so i cant quit working! bens job offers monthly insurance coverage that is comparable to a house note, and if i wanted that id go get a 2nd house! so for now, im stuck returning to work- and missing all this  bonding time with my boy. but, i try to count my blessings bc..

1) i did get over 4 months off work, where most woman only stay home for 6 weeks ( this i cant imagine. your body isnt even prepared for that lead alone your mind)

2) a nursing job is considered full time at 30 hours. so for me to get insurance i only have to work 30 hours a week- and since we get paid every 2 weeks, this equates into a 36 hours week ( 3-12 hr days) and 24 hour week ( 2-12 hour days). So i only work 3 days one week and 2 days the next and am "full time". This is amazing and not a days go by that i remind myself how awesome this is. other mommies have to be away 5 whole days. 

3) my mom will be with phoenix all the times that me or ben can not. and if anyone has to be with him- a grandparent is the next best thing! my mom can send me pics, videos, keep me posted, ill know hes not being neglected, ill know hes not crying his eyes out, or accidentally being fed someones elses milk, or laying a crib all day with no onteraction. I know my mom will make his brain grow and make him smile big. (but that doesnt erase the fact that i wish it were me! )

4) I knew if i kept him my belly in until at least aug 25th that that would mean id be home until at least dec 25- and he was born on aug 25! plus, the way the week fell, i dont have to return to work until after the new year- so i was blessed by getting every single holiday off with phoenix this first year, and for that i am grateful! 

So, long story short, to explain why this girl i follow is able to do all these things- she is a stay at home mom. She never has to count down the days until she returns to work. which is awesome. ----> jealous. 

In other news, phoenix is trying to sit up more and more each day! he is so strong, its incredible! he smiles more and more and when he wakes up in the morning he is FULL of talking and smiling- he loves waking up! he is still sleeping next to us in bed, we are working towards moving him but taking it slowly. i only get cuddle time with him this little once, so say what you wish! plus big ole' boy eats so much that it makes feeding him at night a breeze! Also new this week are 2 little white dots on his lower gums- hes teething! we'd seen the drool, the chewing of the hands, etc, but hadnt seen white bumps until now! i had several teeth fully exposed by 4 months and it is hereditary, so maybe hes taking after me... I say fatty just wants to eat big boy food in a hurry haha

love this pouty/ tired face:

bought "elf on the shelf" and hes already watching ;)

This has to be the most handsome man. im not bias. 

prepping up for his 2nd holiday and 1st thanksgiving

perfect smiling face in the mornings!

mid-day couch time! 

Christmas through a child's eyes..

well..following todays halloween post, why not move on to christmas?? haha- i am loving this advent countdown idea- and thinking i just may begin the bag decorating this year- even though i know phoenix wont participate for a few years, why not right? i love christmas and it is going to be so fun to relive it all through him! all the excitment that i use to feel and the christmas spirit and all the magical things happening- that you just KNOW must be real such as flying reindeer, santa and all his elves. I remember christmas as a child and it was amazing- my grandmothers house was so warm and

 holiday-ish! when we would arrive in our sweet little dresses and tights, her bar decked out in hor devours and drinks, you just knew the day had arrived! and i still remember those feelings :) and truly miss those days! And although i celebreated those days with tons of cousins and family, i know right now Phoenix is pretty alone other than another new baby cousin... but we will make sure he still has all those happy feelings none the less and i cant WAIT to have them with him! ive always looked forward to reliving christmas through my child and now it is happening :) on that note- i hurried to order him "elf on the shelf" bc i just love the story behind it! and now im mulling over these advent ideas.. HERE you can see the idea i may steal :) i just love the idea of 25 bags filled with ornaments or gifts or snacks- what a magical countdown for a child!

Advent idea:

elf on the shelf:

pics from christmas past: 

(sorry for the lack of ben pics, i need more!)

happy halloween!

This week was Phoenix's 1st holiday! To celebrate we dressed him up as batman, daddy had a joker costume already and so i threw together some black items to become cat woman. this week involved a full moon and i think a growth spurt for phoenix as well- so hes been quite fussy at night and not sleeping well. BUT- last night, we broke world records! he slept 5 hrs straight!!! then followed that with 4 hrs of sleep! i feel like i won a race lol! So, for halloween we snapped as many pics as we would capture before the fussing set in and then turned the porch light off- sorry kids, next year we will hand out candy longer, but this year we had to let our infant run the show :) my dad was going to try and visit but ended up being unable to and we were going to take phoenix to my moms to trick or treat but that didnt work out either- so needless to say it was a very spontaneous halloween :) next year- we come back with a vengeance lol

we also got a date night this week to enjoy uncle mikes birthday- thanks glamma for keeping phoenix :)

today mr. phoenix got all fancy to see Ashlee and Catherine 

this was mommy and phoenix's 1st trip shopping alone! success! although he had a majorly loud blowout that was hilarious...

did some more drummin' this week 

halloween night:

he pooped out on us 

glamma trick or treated at our house so she could give phoenix some treats of his own! 

sweet burp cloth i ordered- just liked it, even though its for drool...

Pumpkin Patches and Corn Mazes!

Last week we decided to go to a corn maze and pumpkin patch in portland. Mom and Wilton as well as Ashlee and Charles came along for the fun! Phoenix didnt seem to care either way as he was all bundled up snug in the moby, but we had fun showing him all there was to see none the less. After the maze, we were able to go pick pumpkins :) We got one big "family" pumpkin and 3 little ones, one for each of us. Sadly, one of the little pumpkins never made it home some how :( Phoenix does better and better each time we go out and he did wonderfully on this little adventure! That night him and i slept over at grandma and grandpas house bc he fell asleep and instead of waking up in his usual 2 hours increments, he kept sleeping! So there was no way i was waking him on purpose just to leave! It was a great sleep over :)

look i can ALMOST do the bumbo alone!

aunt ashlee and uncle charles

the same place we stood a mere months ago to discover phoenix's gender!

aunt ashlee a little teary when phoenix fell asleep on her :)