Our first try with solids

We tried some rice cereal with Nicklas last night. First I tried the spoon, and most of it when down his front. So I tried it in the bottle with a little breastmilk and this is the face I received...

He's not really happy with it yet...I just wanted to see what he would do! We'll be waiting a little while on solids, I think...

Christmas in Pictures

It's your first Christmas, Nicklas!

Here's great-aunt Alice and Robert's cousin Jeremiah from our first trip to Ringgold since Nicklas was born. Alice read the boys "Twas the Night Before Christmas"; Nicklas was just fascinated. He loves to be read to.

Robert's other cousin Maria. Both kids were in love with Nicklas from the start.

Wild turkeys! There must of been about 30 wild turkeys running through Gi Gi's yard (Gi Gi is Robert's grandmother). I've never seen turkeys except for the ones you get frozen from Ingle's for Thanksgiving dinner. I got a good picture of this one in her driveway...



Melissa and Jonas spent the week with my mom and dad in Winder. Some of Melissa's family, including her sister Carly and her mom Gay, came over Christmas eve and Christmas day so that they could spend time with Luke. This is Carly with Melissa and Nicklas.

Somebody was tired before we even started opening presents! Nicklas got a new crib toy, some new clothes and a baby Einstein video about sign language.

Luke is so cute! It's hard to remember when Nicklas was that small...of course, he wasn't ever as skinny. Here's a rare smile, since he spend most of the week asleep (or at least, when I saw him that was the case).

Here's my little cutie watching me open his first Christmas present!

Santa's little helper...with his Papa.

Cousins Alexis and McKenzie came over with Uncle Heath for lunch. Alexis is now seven months old, and McKenzie will be five in March. (Sorry McKenzie, I didn't get your picture!)

Luke and Carly on Christmas day.

Nicklas had a great Chrismas!

Luke loves his Baby Einstein play gym.

Our boys!

Robert and I received a WiiFit for Christmas, so most of the afternoon was spend doing yoga, hula hoop and ski jumping. I'm planning on losing plenty of weight next year!

Jonas, don't scare the baby!

Thanks for a wonderful Christmas! Next year we'll be chasing toddlers!

Christmas Pajamas!

I just couldn't wait to get Nicklas in his Christmas pj's this year...He seems to like them, as you can tell. I just love the little reindeer feet! This week was our last week at Kindermusik for the year, but we will be signing up with Ms. Dana from Hebron Baptist Church in Dacula for next semester. I'm so excited to have Nicklas in this class, and the next one will be even more fun. He's getting to the age where he enjoys activities more and we'll get to see him grow stronger, sit up and maybe even crawl before the next semester is over in May. My only challenge is that Kindermusik is right in the middle of morning nap time (the ballpark time that it is) so he's often sort of zoned out during class.

We took some time this week to get our Christmas shopping done, and while I was out I had Nicklas' picture made with Santa. I just loved this Santa Claus, but Nicklas was not impressed. He didn't cry or anything, but nothing I could do could make him smile. He'd also just woken up in a strange place in the middle of the mall, so no wonder he was a little cranky.

Next week we'll be traveling to Ringgold, GA to visit Robert's mom's family and his parents will be driving up there as well from Waycross. It's only a 2.5 hour drive from here, so hopefully he will do well in the car. Maybe a good nap and that's it. We'll be coming home on Christmas eve, since I have to play oboe at Grace Episcopal Church in Gainesville once again for their Christmas Eve service. It's the third year I have done this, but its a paying job and I'm not about to turn down the money this time of year. Our family is taking it easy as far as Christmas presents are concerned, especially Robert and myself. It's hard not to buy Nicklas a ton of gifts, but he's only four months old and has no idea what Christmas is anyway, so I'm going to save it for next year. At least I don't have to work Christmas day this year, so I will just enjoy the time with family!

Time to vent...

The "can you roll over" game!

Now that Nicklas is almost four months old, I'm struggling with trying to fit him into a "schedule", whatever that means. I'm such a schedule-oriented person that I can't stand not knowing when he'll need to eat, sleep, poop, etc. Roughly, he eats every three hours, naps three to four times a day and goes to bed anytime between 7pm and 9pm, waking up anywhere from 6am to 8am. Some people might say that I have him on a schedule, but all these things happen at different times every day and different ways. Sometimes he doesn't want to eat when I think he does and won't nap when I want him to, etc, and it drives me crazy! Am I alone on this?

Sometimes I think that I should throw "what the book says" out the window and just let him do what he wants when he wants to. He's much happier that way...and I hate to say it, but he spends so much time being unhappy that I'll do anything to keep him from crying nowadays. Am I spoiling him? Does it make me a bad mom to let him do this? Or is he too young for me to even worry about this stuff? Sometimes I get so frustrated (and so does Robert) that I'm sure that I've made a mistake trying to be a mommy, even though I love my boy so much it hurts. I was not made to be the stay-at-home mom, and those precious days when I go into work feel like a vacation. And when I come home, my time with Nicklas is even sweeter and more special. I just worry so much that he's being fussy with whoever is taking care of him (be it my mom or Robert) that I almost can't enjoy myself being out of the house. I feel as though if he's fussy, than I should be the one to deal with it.

I envy all of you out there with so-called "easy babies". You know, those who never cry and nap on demand. Oh, I know you're out there, because you've told me all about it. I'm thinking God is giving me the challenge now because Nicklas will grow up to be an angel child...here's hoping!