3 Months old

I LOVED being home with Colton for 12 weeks and as much as I love my job and it brings me a lot of fulfillment, I get so much joy from being a mom. I've always thought it was such a big part of GOD's purpose for me and everyday I know this more and more.  I went back to work 2 weeks ago and it was sooo hard to leave him!!! I cried several times but the worst seemed to be when I was getting ready to leave and when I got home (which Bobby thought I'd lost it a little) but it was these times I realized how much I'd missed of his day and it made me so sad. It's gotten better gradually and he has a great time at daycare part of the week and with grammy 1 or 2 days. I want to be with him but I'm grateful at least that he's happy and sleeping through the night which is awesome!  I cherish our evenings and weekends and maybe some day we can get out of debt enough that I could be home more.  Work has been going very well and I enjoy it while I'm there, I just miss my guy.  Colton smiles all the time now and loves to watch everything. It's so much fun to watch him bond with Bobby more now that he is more interactive.  Colton's a bit of a stinker when I'm taking pictures, he'll smile and laugh and then I go to take a picture and he stops, I'll catch more soon:)

2 months old

I'm about a week late in posting this but Colton is 2 months old now and I go back to work in a little more than two weeks:(  I actually miss work a little but am having  really hard time with the idea of leaving Colton at day care for 10-11 hours a day. I want to be the person who gets to see everything he does all day!  He had his two month shots on Monday and was a pretty good sport about it. I think it was harder for me to watch.  We are having so much fun together, he wants to see everything and is full of smiles and of course I love just cuddling with him. 

Colton's Dedication

Sunday during our regular church service Colton had his dedication ceremony. Some good friends of ours Tracy and Tara gave us the cutest little suit and Bobby's mom helped with some minor alterations. A big thank you to all of you. Colton was so cute in his suit and slept through almost the entire ceremony. He gave pastor Phil a couple of squeaks at the end but overall did very well.  Bobby grew up in this church and I have been attending with him for quite a while now so it was nice to share this with Colton and have the congregation support us and Colton in our spiritual journey.  

Ahhh, sleep!

For about the last week, my dear sweet baby has not been sleeping. The nighttime difficulties are expected but he has been going on sprees of awakeness for as many as 8-10 hours during the day with no nap no matter what I do. For the most part he is happy and doesn't want to miss anything but by the end of the day is grumpy and so tired it makes me sad for him. Car rides have helped at times but not always.  So the fabulous news is that yesterday and today he has taken naps, been very happy and last night slept for a couple of 4 hour stretches, which is a record!  He is currently sleeping in his swing, which is this picture and I pray for continued good rest for my little guy! So I'm off to get a few things done while he is sleeping!

Smiles

I love it!!! Colton flashed me his gummy, crooked smile for the first time last week and I could only catch it on my cell phone. As soon as I got out my camera he would look serious, we'll have to work on that with all the pictures I like to take and scrapbooks he is going to have about him!  This picture just melts my heart, not to mention when he does it in person.  I love my days with him and the nights too, he's going through a phase this week of not sleeping much in the day or night, so hopefully he gets better at that soon. 

Time is flying

I can't believe Colton will be 4 weeks tomorrow and month old on Tuesday! I want to hold on to every cuddly little moment with him. It's fun to watch him become more alert and take everything in but I don't want it to fly by and especially my time off from work. I'm already sad at the idea of leaving him. My mother in law is talking about whether it could be possible for her to keep him when I go back to work. I would love this but she's not sure if it can work. I've found an in home day care in town that is my other option and it seems nice but he'll have to be there so much and not with me:( He's now a pro at breastfeeding and we're working on the sleeping schedule. Bobby and I have been sleeping on the couch because he only wants to sleep in his swing but we are happy to get some precious sleep the past few nights so tonight we are going to start working on moving back to the crib and hopefully we'll be able to sleep in our bed again at some point! I spend a lot of time just sitting and watching him, it's still so amazing to me that he is here and is ours.

Colton's Arrival

Colton Robert Gift arrived Saturday December 13th at 8:59pm weighing 7 pounds and 19 1/4 inches long. I had contractions most of the day Friday and my water broke about midnight Friday night so it was a long labor and much more challenging than I anticipated but sooo worth it when I got to meet our little guy. Bobby was an incredible coach through the labor and delivery and is so proud of and in love with Colton. It's been really fun to watch. Colton spent 5 days in the NICU which was hard to not have him with us but the hospital let us stay for free after I was discharged so we could be with him and work on breastfeeding which was a challenge as he had to be under th billiruben lights as much as possible. We are home and doing well now, made it through Christmas without everyone thinking I'm a completely overprotective mom, but I didn't let everyone hold him at Christmas gatherings because I don't want him to get sick and then Bobby and I ended up with the stomach flu the week of Christmas. Colton is doing well though, he is very sweet, pretty laid back and soothes himself most of the time but he has a fiesty temper when it comes to eating. He wants it immediately and is not always patient enough to nurse, but we're working on this. As soon as he gets to eat he's happy and laid back again. Bobby and I, mostly me, are trying to adjust to very little sleep but I love my time just snuggling with Colton and bonding. It is an amazing feeling that he is ours. We have alreay taken more than 200 pictures so here are just a few:)