good day sunshine

Today I woke up to this chubby face. I heard him wiggling around in his cradle before my alarm went off, but that's normal for him. As it sounded, he started to babble. I jumped right up. There he was, big smile on his face. He's never awake that early! I got in some good quality cuddle time before work. He really makes getting out of bed right when the alarm goes off, the easiest thing in the world.

You say goodbye, I say hello

2011 was a whirlwind. I've made pretty lofty goals for myself the last two years, none of which I've followed through. This year I have goals I'm hopeful to see through, but they're much more manageable.

1. Take care of yourself!
We all make health and fitness goals, and really, how often do we actually accomplish them? No goal this time. Just a promise to do things that make us healthier, happier people. Be more active. Eat more vegetables. Eat more meals at home.

2. Family is forever!
Now that I'm back to work, I miss Ryan like crazy and I sure see Jim less. With 12 hour shifts, I don't get a lot of you're with either of them. It's time to start making it count! Male the best out of the 30 minutes of family time we get on those days and continue to show Ryan how much we love him.

3. Money matters!
I sure love to shop, no secret there. But this year I want to be more mindful with our money. Less spending and more saving. Instead of buying lots of little things we might not need, save money for the big things we will use for a long time. Meal plan and grocery shop more wisely. Stop buying beauty products I won't use consistently.

4. Finish a half marathon!
This is the only "lofty" goal I have this year. I want to lose my baby weight so badly, I'd do just about anything to get it. I registered for a half marathon with a fellow mom of mine and I'm going to complete that thing even if she has to drag me across the finish line. I was training for one in 2010 and never showed up on race day. I'm not making a big training plan or a time to finish the race in, I just want to finish.

Those are my goals for the year! Hope you'll help keep me accountable and maybe even share your goals with me. Inspire me!

-C

Baby blues

There's not a lot, it seems, that Ryan takes from me. Besides the red hair, fair skin and chubby cheeks, I'm not sure you'd know he was mine. He came out looking identical to his daddy

While waiting for the ferry a few days ago, I noticed something spectacular! Ryan's eyes are changing color. They started out a pretty dark blue-gray, but now a beautiful golden brown spot has started to grow. Just like mommy! I have hazel eyes with lots of fun golden brown spots and speckles. Needless to say, I'm thrilled.

Thanks Ryan, for finding something to share with your mommy!

today

Curious hands & chubby fingers made me happy.

Our Christmas

As I lay here in bed listening to Ryan while he sleeps, I can say without a doubt, this was the best Christmas ever.





Hoping you and yours had a very special holiday and we wish you the best for the new year.

-C

our first family photos

This last Saturday we had a friend take our first family photos. I was starting to have a lot of regret for not having maternity or newborn photos taken of myself and Ryan. I mentioned it to Jim and he said we could still get photos done while Ryan is still itty bitty. Though he's not his newborn 7lbs, these are still so fabulous.

All photos were taken by Ciera of Pixiedust Photography. She's an incredibly talented photographer with a passion for child and family photography. You can find her work on her blog, Pixiedust Photography and her Facebook page.

discovering new things

I've seen a lot of change in Ryan over this last week. He's suddenly becoming so much more aware of the things around him. He has been grasping at his blanket or burp cloth, feeling and inspecting it, and moving them around.

I had literally given him a toy just last weekend to see if he'd like looking at it. I'm not even sure he realized it was there. After this new discovery, I pulled out a little stuffed elephant that was given to him to see if he'd be interested in it. My goodness, does he like it!

He loves to hold on to it. Regardless of whether he's actively playing with it, his little hand is grasping an ear or a foot on that little elephant. He'll sit and have a whole baby conversation with it. Cooing, smiling and giggling at it. I find it so fascinating. I was afraid of losing that tiny, cuddly infant, but these new discoveries sure are fun.