2 and a half months already

I caught Peter sucking his thumb for the first time a couple of days ago.  At first I thought it was darling to see that tiny little thumb inside his mouth, but I want him to have nice teeth so I immediately pulled it out and replaced it with a binky.  When we were visiting my parents in Idaho my dad couldn't remember the English word for chupon, which is spanish for binky or pacifier as Ben insists.  I like to say binky because it's easier.  Anyways I thought it was interesting that even after all these years in the States there are still some words my dad knows better in Spanish.  I would really like Peter to learn Spanish or at least have the same ear for it that I do.  It looks like we'll be living in California for the next few years maybe longer so maybe there's still a chance.    

Peter is a very happy baby except for a few bouts of colic here an there but not much.  He is especially happy in the morning when he wakes up.  He usually doesn't cry I only know he's awake because I can hear him baby talking to himself...it is adorable.  When I peek over his bassinet to see if he's really awake he starts smiling really big.  He is a such a cute baby.  Ben is already trying to talk me into another one...crazy man!

I think I will feel like I have my life back when we finally move to where ever Ben's parents are getting their store.  I just don't feel complete without a gym to go to every day for an hour.  It is my 'me' time.  It's also a chance for some socialization. Once I get that going again I will be ready to tackle another pregnancy.  This last one was pretty rough and I still have a few pounds to lose.

Mother's Day

Is it wrong to pray for a good deal?  I really wanted a nice tummy time mat with all the bells and whistles for baby Peter, but since we are still living half way on savings I wanted it to be cheap, so I prayed that I would find one at TJ Maxx.  God answers prayers.  There was the exact item I was looking for on clearance...the only one in the store.  Sometimes it's just the little blessings in life that make all the difference.  I can't help it I love a good deal and clean dogs.  Well I got a good deal.

As I was checking out the cashier wished me a happy mother's day.  It made me pause for a moment as I realized that she was the first person to ever wish me a happy mother's day as a mother.  What a strange sensation.  Ben and I still have a hard time wrapping our heads around the fact that we have a baby.  Peter has us wrapped around his tiny little fingers.

He is smiling so much lately and he really wants to laugh, but he can't quite do it yet.  Almost.  He loves it when I just sit and talk to him...he gets the biggest smiles.  It melts my heart.  He also has the cutest little frowny face when he cries.  He's been a little colicky here and there, but not too bad.  I learned my lesson about Mexican food last week...no more chile colorado for me while breastfeeding! Wowza! What a mistake.  

I really miss caffeine.  On the bright side Peter has been sleeping really good at night.  He is almost 12 pounds now and has been sleeping 5-6 hours at night and then goes back to bed for another 2-3.  I almost feel human again.  Almost.  I vaguely remember what it was like to sleep in.  I seem to remember that it felt really good like going to a day spa.  If it ever happens again I will cherish the moment forever!!

Welp Ben is back to work and I really miss him.  I told him my dream would be for him to work part time like 20-30 hours a week making a million dollars.  I don't think that's too much to ask for.  I need him to work at least part time, because other wise he would be bugging me and tickling me and driving me crazy 24-7.  I need something to tire out all that extra energy he has.  I think 20-30 hours a week would do it.  Then with the million dollars I would distract him weekly with a new shiny farm animal of some kind.  Ahh I can just see it now the perfect balance and harmony in the universe of Ben and Melissa. Oh and Peter.

A change in plans

Ben didn't get accepted into BYU's full time MPA program like we had planned on and hoped for.  It was very disappointing especially after the time and effort he put in trying to get into the program.  As for the time he spent in his internship with the Mayor's office in Salt Lake City he learned an expensive, yet valuable, lesson: He doesn't like working there all that much.  So after a lot of researching and soul searching another opportunity presented itself.  We decided to move to California and help Ben's parents open their very own grocery store called grocery outlet.  It was a difficult decision, because we were very happy where we were in Utah.  It was especially hard to say goodbye to our family that we had gotten close to while living next door to them and of course our wonderful upstairs neighbor Jan who was so excited for the arrival of our precious baby boy.

Our little neighbor friend Katelyn who is 5 years old told Jan after we left "Jan, I just hate my life now.  Because Ben and Melissa are gone and I will never get to hold that little baby Peter in my arms ever again."  So sweet.   Cameron, Ben's cousin, told Jan that he was glad that at least we were family and we would see eachother again.  We'll miss those kids and it was one of those moments in time we'll never get back, but treasure always.

In the meantime I am consoling myself by cooking in this beautiful kitchen:

  We're renting Ben's parents house in California while we wait for the store purchase to go through and then we will move where ever the store is going to be located. My parents were nice enough to drive all our stuff here for us from Utah and turned around drove home the next day.

My sweet little boy is almost 2 months old I can't believe it!  He is my little jewel I can't stop staring at him or kissing his wittle cheeks.  He's started smiling a lot lately and every time he does, it stops us in our tracks and we try to get even more smiles out of him.  He is a pretty happy baby.  He can almost laugh, but not quite.  I heard him laugh in his sleep last night, now I'm just waiting for him to do it when he's awake for the first time. He made a new sound this week 'coo' or 'goo'  I'm not sure which and maybe he's said both now.  Every new little thing he does is AMAZING!  I'm so glad I have Ben to share all these amazing firsts with...he thinks they are just as amazing as I do.

6 weeks old

Ben had a campout last friday night with the scouts which meant that I had Peter and his night schedule all alone for the first time ever.  I was a little nervous so I took his temperature...4 times.  That night schedule without Ben was rough!  I can't imagine doing any of this alone.  Not just because it's so much easier with a husband to help out, but also because it means so much to have someone to share this experience with.  By the way have I ever mentioned how incredibly sexy it is to see a man rocking his newborn baby to sleep?  Makes me want to have more babies, but then I remind myself about the terrifying 31 hours of labor :) 

 First night without his daddy to rock him to sleep he was missing him...

....until I made brownies then he was like 'daddy who?'  Just kidding. If only it were that easy.  

We blessed our baby Peter today.  It was such a surreal feeling after seeing hundreds of baby blessings during sacrament meetings over the years today it was my baby receiving the blessing.  I got a little misty eyed sitting there listening to that sexy man, that rocks his newborn baby to sleep every night, giving him a blessing.  It occurred to me that this is just another experience I never thought we would have.  

It's strange to think that a year ago Ben was in Iraq and we were counting down the days and months until he would come home never imagining that we would be here just a year later with a brand new baby in tow. Life sure has it's twists and turns doesn't it?  Lately it has just been one after another.  Some have been incredibly difficult and some have been incredibly wonderful.  It makes me wonder what's in store for us when we move to California next week.

5 weeks old

Welp Peter is 5 weeks old today and weighed in at 9.2lbs he is growing so fast!  Ben and I can't get enough of this little guy.  We spend a lot of time admiring our precious boy.  This week he did a baby push up, Ben called it a girl pushup *me rolling my eyes :)    He rolls over in both directions and can scoot forward on his tummy.  Just 5 weeks old and he already acts like he wants to crawl. His head and neck control is incredible.  We marvel at how strong he is...and everything else about him.  We spend a lot of time taking pictures of him--it's kind of an obsession.

I decided to start back up with Zumba and it was great.  I'm sure glad I was able to do Zumba up until 3 days before I went into labor.  Zumba without the big belly is so much easier!  I felt very light on my feet today even though I still have a ways to go to my pre pregnancy weight.  It was interesting to go back to Zumba without a baby in my tummy.  I could bounce again!  But kind of missed those days of tapping out the rhythm to the music on my belly in hopes that my little boy would learn rhythm sooner!

4 weeks old

Hard to believe it's already been a month since Peter was born!  He started rolling all the way over when he was about 3 weeks old and we captured it on film a few days ago.  He is a very strong baby!

Where has the time gone?

My baby is 3 weeks old today. Where has the time gone?? He's practically all grown up. Any day now I just know he's going to be asking for the car keys and then driving himself to college...eek! They grow up so fast. In the meantime I will just enjoy what a tiny precious baby he is.

Yesterday we discovered he likes to lift his back legs and bum up in the air like a gymnast when we put him on his tummy for a little tummy time.

 He is already starting to roll over. Not a complete roll over, but he can get himself up on his side. It's nice to have family close by to ooh and aww over how remarkable our baby is! Ben's aunts tell us how amazingly strong he is for such a newborn baby. Ben and I were taking turns talking to him and he would lift his head up and turn to look at us...of course every little thing he does is amazing to us!

 He looks good in stripes!

 Thank goodness for baby swings...he loves this thing.  Sometimes it's the only way to relax him before bedtime.

 Learning to play the air drums with daddy.

Look at that little newborn smile...he likes the air drums! And he's great at it too.  Best air drummer ever.

My boys in blue. Awww aren't they cute??