Where Do I Begin?

Jack loves his sweet potatoes!

Not sure what to think about the beach for the first time!

Playing on Mommy and Daddy's bed...One of my favorite things to do!

I think Mommy and Daddy are SOOOO funny! :)

It has been a LONG time since I have posted and SO much has happened during this time that I don't even know where to start! Let's see...

My maternity leave ended and I went back to work on July 12th (boo!). The daycare that we were on the waiting list for couldn't take us until a few weeks after I went back to work so my mom and my mother-in-law REALLY helped us out during this time...thank you! The transition of going back to work wasn't so bad because we had family members helping to take care of Jack. Somehow this made it a little more bearable for me. However...

Jack's first day of daycare was on August 3rd. I would say that this day probably went down in the books as one of the worst days of my life...seriously. Everyone always says how horrible dropping your child off at daycare is, but, I don't think that I believed them...or, I thought that they were being overly dramatic...or whatever...I was WRONG! I was a complete MESS. I managed to hold it together for maybe the first 5 minutes (although I did cry twice before we even left the house!). I was doing o.k. until John handed Jack to the girl at the daycare...I completely fell apart (If you know me at all, you know that I don't cry...EVER!...so, this was a pretty big deal!)! I ran out to the car immediately for fear of looking like a blubbering idiot. I had to go back to the house and change clothes and redo my makeup before heading to work (there was mascara everywhere from all of the crying!). Needless to say, I was about an hour late to work, but, they were so understanding. I couldn't have asked for a nicer group of co-workers.

Slowly but surely we settled into our daycare/work routine. It got a little easier with each day that passed. However, John and I had several discussions about me staying at home with Jack. Somehow, knowing that staying at home was an option kept nagging me each day that I went to work. We really did like the daycare - It wasn't that I felt like it was a terrible place to leave my child or anything like that, but, it was more that I felt like I was missing his entire life. Each day I would wake Jack up and take him immediately to daycare and at the end of the day he was so worn out that he would fall asleep right when we got home...wake up for about an hour and then go to bed for the night. It made me so sad! I felt like I only got to see him for an hour or so awake each day :( .

Anyway, with all of this being said, I am now staying at home with sweet baby Jack! My last day at Docupak was September 10th. Staying at home has been a tough job and so was working and sending him to daycare...there is no such thing as "easy" when it comes to having a child. However, I wouldn't trade Jack for the world! He is worth every single second! :) I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to stay home. I just love being able to spend so much time with him and watch him grow...It seems like he changes every second!

The first week of October we went to Gulf Shores, AL with my family. This was Jack's first trip to the beach and I think that he loved it! He REALLY wanted to sit down in the sand and put it in his mouth (we wouldn't let him of course!). I don't think he knew what to think of the waves washing up on his little feet...his reaction was so cute! The Shrimp Festival was also that weekend, so, we took Jack one afternoon...It was HOT outside and he slept most of the time in the stroller. We did a little outlet shopping and a LOT of good eating. Great vacation! I always hate to leave the beach...our time there never seems to be long enough.

Also, Jack has really started to love his "solid" foods. As you can see in the picture above...he loves sweet potatoes! We started giving him pears this week and he also loved those. He cried when all of his pears were gone this morning...he wanted more! The child eats ALL THE TIME! No wonder he's getting so big! We're going on Wednesday for his 6 month shots...I hate going for him to get his shots! But...we will see how much he weighs then. I'll keep you posted. I wonder if he'll keep up his 95th percentile record?