Good Idea?

I have officially decided that I'm the queen of good intentions but poor execution. Let me explain.....

1. I either come up with an idea that I think is really good and never actually go through with it. Example: The flowers that I meant to send to my friend on her first day back to work from maternity leave

2. I have plans to do something but I'm so worried about finding the perfect materials that I end up just never following through with the project. Example: Caleb's birth announcements. No yours didn't get lost in the mail I just never ordered them. Oh, don't get me wrong I searched the internet and stores for days for the perfect announcement, calculated the cost, had all of the address labels typed up but never ended up actually ordering any because I couldn't decide which one to order and which picture of Caleb to use. This is my first of many regrets as a mom.

3. I come up with what I think is a great idea or gift but the work involved in executing the plan and/or finding the perfect materials almost takes the fun out of doing it. Example: The mini scrapbooks that I made for my nieces that I wanted to be just right and stayed up until 2am finishing them the night before their birthday party.

So here is my latest great idea that is turning out to be quite the challenge.....I've decided in effort to try to make up for the fact that I don't have a birth announcement in Caleb's baby book I would try to capture his footprint and/or hand print in a scrapbook each month. I just love his little hands and feet and thought it would be neat later to look back and see how much they changed during his first year. Now some of you are thinking what a cute idea but those of you who have kids are already snickering and shaking your head in laughter at this poor unseasoned mom and her starry eyed dreams of actually being able to get a baby to cooperate in this task. After having attempted to do this a couple of times now I have decided that those cute hand prints you see in pictures are either prints off of a baby doll or are done when they are older and then photoshopped to decrease the size to make it look like it's a newborns hand print. If any of you have been able to successfully pry the death grip of your baby's hand and actually lay it flat on a piece of paper by all means please share your advice. Yes, I realize some of you are thinking well just wait until he is asleep. Well, the probably with that is first I don't want to wait until he is a sleep I want to do it when I'm ready (yes, I realize I still have a lot to learn about this new role as a mother but I'm just being honest) and second Caleb is more of a power naper vs. a long endurance sleeper so when he does go to sleep I definitely do not wish to disturb him if at all possible. The other problem with this so called great idea of mine is now I have to find the perfect album to put the prints in once I capture them and come up with the perfect stamp to use each month. You know the magic ink pad that is non toxic, washes off with just a baby wipe, dries quick, doesn't smudge and stamps a true black not black with a purple tint. Oh some of you have finally gotten a glimpse of the true Melody and for that I'm truly sorry but this is the crazy, perfectionist, nut that my husband deals with and endures on a daily basis. Seriously if you have been able to accomplish this tasks successfully I would love to hear how you did it. I did do a little happy dance and was really pleased with the footprints I got last month, we didn't attempt to do his hand prints.

Let's Call Those Hogs!

Well yet again I have found another item in Caleb's closet that he should have been wearing a couple of weeks ago. Seriously does anyone else have this problem? I look at clothes in his closet and think that surely it's too big but when I put it on him to my disbelief it either fits just right or is already starting to be too small. I still don't know where he gets his length from but it is definitely starting to make it a bit interesting with regard to how his clothes fit. Unfortunately he only had this outfit on for a couple of hours before he spit up all over it. Oh well, he at least had it on long enough to get some cute pics.

Woo Pig Sooie!!!!

3 Months Old

Where has the time gone, I can't believe that 3 months ago today we were at the hospital meeting Caleb for the first time. He has been such a joy to David and I and we love him more and more every day. Some things about Caleb:

-He blows lots of bubbles

-He has found his hands and likes chewing and sucking on his fingers

-He slept through the night 10 nights in a row (He broke this streak Friday night but slept through the night again last night, cross our fingers that he sleeps all night tonight.) He typically sleeps from 9:30p-6:00a but is starting to go to bed anywhere between 9:00-9:30.

-He loves bathtime and enjoys kicking his toy duck and talking with Daddy

-He can roll from his back to his side but hasn't taken the leap and rolled onto his tummy.

-He still isn't really crazy about tummy time

-He does a good job of holding up his head but he is still a little bit wobbly

-He coos quite a bit

-He smiles a lot

-He has laughed out loud a couple of times

-He has started reaching for things

-He follows objects with his eyes and head

-He has decided that his bouncy seat isn't so bad and now doesn't mind sitting in it

-He still enjoys his swing

Working 9 to 5.....(well more like 8 to 5)

Yuck! The dreaded day finally arrived and I had to go back to work today. I did pretty good and only had a few minor breakdowns but I am definitely glad to be home and able to squeeze my little boy. The day went by pretty fast due to meetings and catching up on 12 weeks worth of unread email. I am definitely exhausted both mentally and physically. In some ways I feel like I have started a new job and can't believe how much I've forgotten, including the login and password to my computer. I'm sure in no time flat I will get back into the swing of things but today just seemed a little odd.

I definitely felt like a mommy today and can no longer just jump up out of bed 30 minutes before time to be at work. It's a whole new morning routine now between trying to get myself ready, feed Caleb, get him ready, drop him off at David's parents and get to work.

It's also a whole new world trying to fit in pumping at work around phone calls, email, meetings, etc. I'm really glad that they added a "Mother's Room" to our office. They recently did some remodeling where I work and this was one of the new additions they added.

It was also really nice to come home from work today and know that I didn't have to fix dinner. I have to give a little shout out to Dallas. We really appreciated you bringing dinner over and thought everything tasted great. I also came home to a freshly vacuumed living room , a clean kitchen and flowers....thanks David!

SNOW

I couldn't resist and had to get Caleb out to enjoy his first accumulated snow for a few minutes. I got him all bundled up in his snowsuit provided by Gayle Honea and Sherri Garner from church and off we went to brave the cold for just a few minutes.

It was a little bright for him outside and a bit challenging to really get his picture in the snow since he can't sit up so I ended up just propping him up against the fence.

This is his attempt at making a snow angel. He reminds me of one of the ewoks in Star Wars.

He didn't mind being outside but I think he preferred to be indoors.

First Laugh?

I'm not sure if this is what some would consider an out and out laugh but David and I have decided to count this as Caleb's first laugh. I had been flipping through the TV channels and stopped on Randy Jackson's show "America's Best Dance Crew" where they were doing some hip hop dancing. For whatever reason I decided to show off Caleb's moves and this was his reaction....