Is it really almost May?

Wow. I know it sounds cliche, but this year has literally flown by. It amazes me how quickly time has passed. Hands down, it has been the best year of my life so far. I love, love, love my baby girl so much and I can't even imagine returning to a life without her in it. I really feel like being a mom is my calling in life. I LOVE it! There is nowhere that I would rather be than with Klair all day. I will admit that there are times when some kind of an escape sounds nice, but as soon as I'm away I'm just wishing I was back with her again. Case and point: Right now. I'm filling in as a receptionist at Sam's work today and despite my excitement at being able to get out of the house and be around adults, I'm baby-sick. I'm finding myself looking at pictures of Klair on Facebook and watching the clock until I can go and get her from my sister's (who was kind enough to watch her for me today). I am not saying this in a judgemental way because I know that everyone is different and certain situations demand certain sacrifices (my own mom was a working mother who managed to be amazing), but I could never work away from home all day every day. I don't know how women do it. Since Klair was born the longest I've been away from her is somewhere in the ball park of 5 hours. And it was hard! I am so blessed to be able to stay home with her. Working a few times a month for a few hours is enough to make me realize how much I enjoy being a "stay at home mom."

Update time: Klair is almost FIVE months old! Although I am saddened to see her leave the newborn stage, she is becoming funner (even though that's a word I still have a hard time using it) every day. On the 16th she completed two milestones in one day. She did her first real mini-push up, and she rolled from her tummy to her back without any help. Since then she's mastered both of these motions, and I am not too sad to say that tummy time is a thing of the past. As soon as we place her on her stomach (something she has always hated) she rolls onto her back. Her rolling motion is so adorable. She uses throws her head backwards and uses the weight of it to pull the rest of her body through the roll. She's already putting that big brain of hers to good use (pun intended).

We also have a ton of new photos of her... and of everything else really. We put most of our money from our tax returns into savings but we did allow ourselves one luxurious buy--a new Cannon camera. I'm still trying to figure out how to use it, but my tech-saavy husband has gone photo crazy. Which of course is okay with me, because he's actually pretty good! I love having professional grade photos of my girl--for free :) Plus I think it has been a good creative outlet for my over-worked husband. Life has been so crazy for him lately between working crazy over time hours, school, and baby that I am extremely grateful for his new found love of photography. Hopefully after a few tutorials on how to use the fancy gizmo I will also be able to have some photo fun. In the mean time I will have to post some of the amazing photos my husband has taken once I get home and have acess to them (and the time to do it of course).

This photo was taken right after she mastered the mini pushup and right before she started rolling for the first time. It was not taken with our new camera because I couldn't figure out how to make it work in time. Thus, I resorted to the iPhone. A picture of less quality is better than no picture in a moment like this, right?

My goodness I love this girl.

Traveling businessman, 4 month appointment, and motherly neurosis

This week has been an interesting one. My husband, who coordinates events for a technology company, just entered trade show season again which means long hours in the office and traveling. He has been in Vegas since Saturday, and leading up to it he has been working overtime in the equivalent of about two full time jobs. Plus he's doing school... Well, we are doing school. I end up helping him through quite a bit of his homework. So, needless to say he is stressed to the max and the baby and house (and homework) responsibilities have fallen to me. Which is fine, I really do love being a mom and homemaker, but I am looking forward to having him home again. The traveling is no fun. Although, I do have to admit it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. Having a baby is so much work that I stay really busy and the time passes pretty quickly.

Ultimately, I just miss my husband and I get the sense that Klair misses her daddy. I can't say for certain on the latter of those statements, but I doubt that Klair doesn't notice his absence. He has come home every night during her little life, and when he does he is so good to play with and spend time with her. I'm certain she misses him and is at least a little puzzled by his absence.

Ah, the life of the wife of a traveling businessman. Can I just say that I am grateful he has such a great job for such a great company? I'm thinking if I list out all the positives maybe my attitude toward the situation will be influenced for the better. He has a great job making great money, which allows me the privilege of staying home to raise my baby girl (and the privilege of having such a nice home). I have a hard working husband who works more than anyone I know and excels at everything he does. Seriously, he is a rockstar and his potential is endless. And I can't say I don't enjoy the schoolwork at least a little... After all, it was my life for so long, I got pretty good at it. And it's nice to be continually learning... Or in some cases relearning I suppose. I'm sure it's keeping me smart. Because, after singing "twinkle, twinkle" all day it's nice to engage my mind in more intellectual pursuits.

There you have it. I actually do feel better! I will admit, however, that my emotional high probably has something to do with the fact that Sam is returning tonight :)

On another note my Klair Bear (who is currently sleeping on me at the moment, hence the post from my phone) had her 4 month appointment last week. Four months! My goodness time passes too fast for my liking. Anyway, the appointment went well. She is 26 inches long--she's grown almost a foot! And she weighs about 15 and a half pounds. She is just shy of having doubled her birth weight. She is still right around the 90th percentile for her size. In terms of milestones she's on track with everything (rolling to her side, bringing her hands together to grasp at toys, putting everything in her mouth. etc.) and she is even ahead in her ability to bear weight on her legs--her favorite activity, mind you. ultimately I am one grateful mama to have such a smart, healthy, (rapidly) growing baby! She's extremely adorable too. Did I mention that? Not that I need to... :)

I did try putting her on solids last week. My reason for doing so was because my good little sleeper stopped sleeping through the night, became fussy, and couldn't seem to get enough milk. As in, I would run out and she would still cry in hunger. She did well with pureed bananas and apples for a few days, and then she stopped eating them. Her extrusion reflex flared up and she refused my offerings. After consulting more literature on the subject, I'm thinking she was probably just experiencing a growth spurt and my attempts to start her on solids were premature. Thus we are back to a diet that solely consists of milk. She seems to be doing well with this. Last night she even slept the whole night through! I think I'll continue this until she gets closer to the 6 month age that is apparently the ideal time to feed solids. We'll see. I feel like so much of this parenting thing is trial and error. Yet, it's so important that I really don't want to make any errors! And there are all this conflicting pieces of advice. "Don't feed your baby solids until 6 months... But also don't let your baby starve if they need it... But, remember, the food isn't as nutritious as the milk... Also keep in mind that if her sleep schedule is being disrupted it could affect her health... And ultimately you know her the best... And she is after all bigger than most six month olds... But don't forget we told you not to feed her solids until 4 to six months, but really we prefer six months." Sorry for the world's longest run-on sentence, but sometimes I think my brain is going to explode. I've never had to make such important decisions before that could, you know, affect the growth and development of another human being with lifelong implications. It's a daunting task to be sure. Here's to hoping that I can somehow get it right!... Or at least avoid messing her up too badly.