Singing in the Car...

I think that my little Kent is going to be a singer someday, just like his mama. This morning in the car on our ride to work, I was singing along to a Zoe Group song. After a few minutes, I noticed that Kent was cooing to himself in the backseat to the tune of the song that was being played. He did this the entire way to work! I thought to myself, "I think he is singing in baby language!" He doesn't sing to all types/genres of music that are played, but he really does like the Zoe Group.

So there you go....our little singing Kent already, at 4 months old! Guess I'll need to video this sometime at home soon!

4 months old!

My little boy turned 4 months old this week....wow! At his 4 month check-up, he weighed 15 pounds and was 27 inches long. How is that for a big boy?

What's new with us? Well, honestly, we are in a pretty good routine at the moment. I have made a better adjustment at working full time and being a mom full time, and of course being a wife full time. Between doing all of these jobs, there is little time for much else lately.




Kent is now on a 4 hour feeding schedule, which he transitioned to pretty well last week. The daycare did an awesome job at working with me to get him transitioned, so thank you again!

So what is my day like on the 4 hour schedule? Here ya go, in case you are interested:

5:30am: mom wakes up, does BSF lesson, reads newspaper, drinks coffee, gets ready for the day
7am: wake up, feed Kent.
7:30-9am: playtime with Kent, keep him awake
9am-11am: morning nap
11-11:30am: feed Kent
11:30-1pm: playtime with Kent, keep him awake
1pm-3pm: afternoon nap
3pm: feed Kent
3:30pm-5:30pm: playtime with Kent, keep him awake
5:30pm-7:00pm: evening cat nap (he usually won't sleep the whole time). This is usually when I can fit in a workout. And no, I don't have much time to cook these days. Instead, I choose to workout. It's either workout or cook, and I choose to workout.
7:00pm: feed Kent
8:00pm: bedtime

What makes this schedule difficult? Well, church, for one. Don't get me wrong, but you see on here that church falls right smack dab in the middle of his morning nap. This is why he isn't the happiest baby at church at times. But I'm not going to just sit at home & wait for him to grow out of his morning nap & not go to church. So I end up dealing with a cranky baby most of Sunday, but such is life....ya know? Another thing that makes this schedule hard is doing much in the evenings. If we go out to eat, we usually go around 5:30pm, with all of the old people & people with kids. If we make plans with friends, the early bedtime can be a problem. So the schedule is great if you are at home, but not so great if you want to "go out." Sometimes this is when I end up doing the grocery shopping. This way, Kyle can have his alone time and I can get to the store without a huge crowd.

Life as a mom is wonderful & rewarding, but a definite adjustment. As you can tell, there isn't much time in my day to get things done. It may seem like that I have tons of time, but let me tell you...until you walk in my shoes, you will see the value of a few precious moments alone.

I haven't added solids to his diet yet, as I've heard it's pretty messy & to hold off as long as possible. Right now Kent is doing pretty well just on breastmilk, so this is what I'll plan on doing for now.

Here is a pic from a family trip to Fuzzy's taco shop in Ft. Worth. Billy & Paula had the Taken's, a family from Holland, visiting this week. Their son loves this place, so this is where we went. The fish & pork tacos are yum-o!

An updated pic of the #1 buckeye fan out there! Isn't he too cute for words?

I thought this pic was too cute....like father, like son. They both had the same fixated look on their faces while watching TV.

Thanks for all of your continued prayers for us as we continue to adjust to life as new parents. We are loving it, but can definitely say it's the hardest job we've both ever done...and, it never, ever stops!

Aunt Kristen Visit's, and Brett turns 26!

This weekend has been a lot of fun. My sister Kristen came to visit for a few days during her fall break. (Yeah, Harding actually has a fall break now! They didn't have this when I was a student. Oh well, better late than never). Anyway, we had fun spending time together & enjoying time with Kent.

Kristen watched Kent for me on Friday while I went to work, which was a treat for Kent not having to go to daycare. Thank you again, Kristen, for watching him! It was awesome to not have to load up my car with baby & his things for a day, especially on a day when it was cold & rainy outside. You are a great aunt!

On Saturday we went & had Kent's 3 month pictures made at a portrait studio. Let's just say it wasn't as fun as what we thought. It turns out that the studio ran an hour behind schedule. So even though I made an appointment for a time when I knew Kent would be happy/smiley, by the time they got to us an hour later, he was mad at the world. But I ended up staying because I went to all of the effort to get Kyle & myself picture-taking worthy, so we were going to get a family picture if my life depended on it. In the end, the pictures turned out ok, but I won't be a returning customer to this place anytime soon. It would also be nice to be able to get stuff like this done on a weekday, but that isn't possible right now since I'm working full time. So, I will just have to be happy going with the masses to get my baby's picture taken for now.

Today we celebrated Brett's birthday after church over a homemade pizza meal & the Cowboy's game. Kristen was able to join in the celebration before heading back on the road to Harding. We tried to get Kent to smile for our cameras. As you can tell, I still have a slow flash to my camera. Paula got a much better picture that I'm going to have to steal from her sometime soon.

The birthday Uncle Brett enjoyed playing with Kent, as well as Aunt Amanda.

Kent is also fascinated with the TV right now. It doesn't really matter what is on, he just stares at the TV when it is turned on. Baby Einstein holds his attention for about 20 minutes or so. Then he either gets mad or falls asleep. Today's Cowboys game kept his attention (this could be due to the fact that they won in overtime, so it was quite exciting!)

I have some pics to post from Grandmother Rhodes' birthday party last weekend, which will come soon. (I forgot my camera for this birthday celebration, so am in the process of getting them from Paula's camera to Kyle's computer to my computer to my blog). Gotta love digital technology!

Separation Anxiety?

I've been back to work full time for a month now. How is it going? Well, overall, as good as can be expected. I can tell you this--boy do I have a new appreciation to all of you moms out there who work full-time outside the home! Or single moms out there....wow, what a huge job! Some days I really enjoy being out doing my job as a RD. Other days all I want to do is be at home with my little boy.

At first it was nice to get out of the same 3 hour baby routine that I was running on all summer long. But now that my time is limited with my boy, I honestly do miss him. There isn't much time in the evenings to do what needs done to keep a house in working order, feed Kent, give him a bath, put him to bed, & then maybe have a few moments with Kyle or to myself. And I'm trying to stay in shape by fitting in a good run when I can, as well as my BSF lessons. (Yes, I did decide to continue with Bible Study Fellowship this year, at least for now. I need something to keep me in the Word everyday. So far I'm really enjoying the study of John this year).

If you haven't been updated about Kent's schedule, so far he is doing as well as can be expected with daycare & his routine. They are doing an excellent job at feeding him at the same times I do, and I can tell they really do enjoy Kent. He still doesn't sleep as well at daycare as he does at home, but it is slowly getting better. Most days he averages about 2 hours in napping total throughout the day at daycare....at home it is usually around 4 hours. So, as you can tell, by the weekend, Kent is definitely catching up on his sleep.

The past few days he has started to figure out that I'm leaving him for the day when I drop him off at daycare. He will look at his teacher, then at me, then give us both a pouty face & make a really cute mad face, then will start to cry....poor baby! I really should try to get a pic of his pouty face sometime soon, and should get a pic of his classroom at daycare so you can see where he spends his days Monday-Friday, 8am-4:30pm.

Thanks for all of your continued prayers for me at work, for Kent, & for Kyle. Blogging time is also limited these days, as you can imagine. But I fit in updates here & there when I can. I know that God doesn't give me anything He doesn't think I can handle, so I hold to this truth as I go about each new day. For now, I'll try not to worry about Kent's cute, but sad, separation anxiety.

Mom & Dad Visit Kent in September!

This past weekend mom & dad came to visit us.....or should I say, Kent? We just happen to be a bonus these days. My parents enjoyed every moment with their precious little grandson. It's crazy to think that he is 15 weeks old already.

Kent is definitely a more smiley baby & does better at being awake & happy.

On Saturday night we went to dinner with both sets of grandparents, who enjoyed watching their grandson sleep through the entire meal. We propped him up in his carseat in the booth, and after watching the lights for a while, he fell asleep.

This is a random picture that my mom said I had to document at some point, so it might as well be now. Here is my current supply of pumped breastmilk that is in my deep freeze. Yep, I have about 60, 5ounce bags ready to go! Boy do I feel like a cow....can you say "moo, moo?"

A family picture before going to church on Sunday morning. Our boy is getting more heavy everyday...I guess it has something to do with that milk he is drinking...see above picture. :)

Mom & dad with little Kent. We enjoyed our time together this past weekend. They are planning to come & visit in another month, so we are looking forward to it!

Thanks, mom & dad, for a fun visit! We love you!