Week Nine in Review: Rollie turned two months and Caleb turned 28!

My baby is officially two month (January 24) old. What a baby. He can confidently roll from back to front during tummy time, smiles constantly, loves to stand and swivel his hips on the laps of anyone that holds him, and snuggles when he wakes up from naps grumpy. He truly is the best kid for us. We love him oh so much.

Who else got older? Well the other boy of the household, Caleb Karl. Happy Birthday, Daddio! Caleb spent the weekend with his brothers down in Galena, IL for his brother, Tim's, 30th birthday celebration. He had a great time and came home very sore from all the festivities. Something about a family that enjoys time together whatever the holiday, is to be so grateful for. I love my in-laws.

Rollie and I went to the south (Wis Dells) to hang out at the condo with mom and grandma.

Because I do not see my mom that often, I requested she help me with my head board that Caleb has been asking for me to finish the cushion part of the head board since we got here in July. So, we plopped Rollie in the walk-in closet and headed off to JoAnn Fabrics.

I thought this would be a quick find but golly it takes forever to figure out what fabric to put on your wall forever. We thought we had a winner 30 minutes in but then the professional reminded us that our pattern can only go one way and our birds wouldn't fly from LtoR like they should but would fly downward. That wasn't going to fly so we instead looked. and looked. and looked some more. I have to be honest, we settled but it did turn out quite cute. In all it took 14 hours from start to finish and we were certainly took our own spin on it but it is very nice for two polish girlies.

It was a pretty low-key weekend so Caleb and I made up for it on Monday when he took the day off. We went to a coffee shop, went for a walk, opened gifts, ate cheesecake, watched TV, and just enjoyed each other's company. Weekends are always nice but sometimes being intentional to spend time together is the best way to spend a day. I love you, lil boy. Happiest of birthdays to you.

Week 8 in Review: Weekend at Home & A Man to Remember

To throw our life for a loop, we actually stayed home this past weekend. I know, this family hardly was able to cope with nowhere to go. We did have Caleb's Christmas Party for his work so Rollie went to his first babysitter session. It was pretty easy to leave him with my friend, Liz, because her daughter is four days younger than Rollie. How ironic, huh? They just loved having him and he behaved himself pretty well. We too had a good time and laughed a lot with his co workers. This being our first weekend home since Rollie has been old enough to be near other people's germs, we braved church for the first time. Rollie did just fine against his mother's intuition. People... I rocked my kiddo to sleep in my arms for the second time. Can you believe it? The thing about my plan with Rollie's sleep schedule that I love is that he doesn't NEED me to fall asleep but the thing about it that I get sad about is missing out on the nights of just rocking a baby. I know in the long run, it will be worth it and I know Rollie won't miss out on my love because I overstimulate that boy when he is awake. My little guy is only awake for 5 hours a day so I miss him so much when he sleeps. I secretly cannot wait for him to be a little older so he can be happy for longer in the day.

Monday, January 18th, was my pop's anniversary of getting into heaven. I have gotten better at longing to be with him on a consistent basis and actually forgot about the date on Monday until Facebook reminded me of my posts in the past. I was quite surprised and bummed that I forgot but to be honest, people, I am tired of recognizing the date he passed. It is nothing but sadness to focus on and this girl has got a lot to be happy about. Even though Baby Rollie will never even know his grandpa, I know that he looks just like me which means he looks a whole lot like my dad. Okay so I am crying now but it is only because my dad was so awesome and I just really want Rollie to get some of that straight from him. Oh well... I will be sure to share and showcase my dad through me to him. Sucks losing a parent before they can see their grandbaby, you get that?

My dad's birthday is February 1st so if you are having an awesome day in a couple weeks, know that a really great guy was born on that day. I will be sure to have Rollie celebrate that day with me in the future.

So onward and upward... here is my cute lil guy for you all to drool over as I do everyday, for 5 hours. Ha!

We embrace his hair in anyway it falls.

He loves to eat...

... and smile for momma.

Just chillin' with his dad watchin' TV

Week 7 in Review: MN Visit & Kiddo Drama

Well folks, I can officially say I am a mom in training. I have made two mistakes this week, one is over and the other has just begun to shine it's dreary head.

Mistake 1: I took my kiddo to many homes in a span of 24 hours and he loved meeting everyone but had a rough go trying to continue his sleep schedule. I was on my usual fast-paced visits that I normally do when I visit MN but this time I had Rollie in tow and he doesn't spring into go-mode like I do. He was fussy and I am just not used to that. I know I am a spoiled mom and I do not know what it is like to have a baby that doesn't sleep, I am just a mom that is learning about how-to of parenting. He slept like a champ after being toted around and actually slept his longest stretch (10 hours) while we were in MN. Go Rollie! I have just learned that Rollie is not as I and I need to keep him consistent with his schedule or else I will have mistake 2 for longer than I wish.

Mistake 2: I have an overtired baby which means his naps are a total fail. For all the moms out there, you know what it is like to have an overtired baby who struggles to sleep and struggles to have fun while awake. I have arrived at this camp. I stink at reading his tired signs and therefore have a baby who struggles to self soothe himself to sleep and therefore struggles to make it past an hour of a nap before waking himself from a stuper and makes himself wake even though he is so tired. I feel awful that I am the root of that but mom is learning all about life just as he is. I think I am too hard on myself but if he does not follow this schedule of EWS (Eat, wake, sleep), I fall into this tizzy that I cannot get out of and feel like I am failing my son.

I think I need a small little break from worrying so that I can be reminded of the good in my momhood, i.e. he sleeps 9-12 hours a night, he loves to smile at mom, he can hold his head up for minutes on end and pushed off of my legs to a standing-like posture. People, I am so proud of my little one, I just feel bad for making him overtired so he cannot enjoy life as much as I enjoy him in my life. Being a mom can feel so lonely, like I am the only one caring for him and I need to have the answers. I know I don't and won't but sometimes it feels like I fail. I will fail, I know, I just don't want to sit in failure like I feel like I am this last week.

Let me just say, though, I am so thankful for the friendships I still have in MN and the people who I can still do life with from afar. They make me happy and I feel very loved when I go back to MN. I also went to my first mom's devotional study at church on Tuesday. I had a good time meeting women from my new church and introducing them to Rollie. Rollie didn't do awesome with me in the group due to his sleep schedule being off but I will send him to the nursery this next time so he can just lay down and snooze.

Rollie met his friend, Jane, this weekend.

Cuddling with SarBear

Other than that, I found this hat that I thought would go perfect with Rollie's outfit on Monday. He had mixed emotions about it:

Week 6 in Review: Happy New Year and Small Vacation

Welcome to 2016, Rollie! You were hardly apart of 2015 but this was your year of coming to be, little one. All the stretch marks and aches were all worth it. To commemorate the new year we went to my mom's place in the Dells to get away without spending mucho money. Having a kiddo takes a lil bit of fun out of being a grown-up but I wouldn't think to spend a holiday without him. We partook in the New Year in our own way and drank a celebratory drink to ring in 10pm on December 31 (We didn't make it to midnight, oops)

New Year's Day was done by lounging around as a family of three and going to my ultimate fave restaurant, High Rock, in Wis Dells. I forgot how tasty that place is. This was Rollie's first time being out in public... he did perfect and did not make a peep.

We had such a nice weekend being off the grid from reality and just enjoying time away from home to relax and be three.

Big Stretch

Snuggle Buddies

Rollie loves time with daddio.

On Sunday, we left to go visit my mom in Milwaukee and pawn our kiddo off to have a date. We went to Sprecher's Brewery in Glendale. The brewery itself was a little aged but the experience was quite nice. The beer wasn't our favorite but the sodas are out of this world. I did find a citrus/summer ale that I will be purchasing for a beach day. It was so fun to rekindle our memories before Rollie but we found ourselves talking about Rollie more than anything else. It is so evident that he is our world and the center of our lives.

On Sunday morning, we left early to get to Chicago to drop Rollie off again but this time to Nathan and Kelly's place. We were on our way to the Bears game that I purchased for Christmas to give to Caleb. Caleb was super bummed that while we lived in Chicago we didn't go to a game so I made it a priority to find a great deal to surprise him. BEFORE we went to the game we stopped by Baker & Nosh near our old place to eat oh but the best bakery items and I was able to sip on some Kilogram Chai. MY FAVE!

 We arrived at the stadium 10 minutes before the game started and took the bus system (for old times sake, of course). The game was not sold out but there were sure a lot of people for it being so cold. 19 degrees was the high temperature for the day and we be cold, folks. Being the temperature, we splurged our funds and bought a hot cocoa. WORTH IT!

All in all, Rollie was the best kid for another week. His opinion on our love and affection for him:

We just love him so much.