Looking Back and New Milestones

It is amazing to me how much Sawyer has changed over the last 4 months. In the first video, Sawyer is less than a week old and is still learning about this new world. When I was looking at these videos earlier I was reflecting back on those newborn days. The second video was taken a couple of weekends ago and its like he is a different baby. He is so alert and his personality is really starting to come out. He is so verbal and loves to have attention and affection. I could seriously eat him alive!

A new milestone that we reached this week, or are starting to attempt, is no swaddling. Most babies are over this by the first month or less but this seems to be the best way for him to stay asleep and not be woken up by his startle reflexes. He is getting so big now and we would have to come in the middle of the night to re-swaddle him because he would break out. I also read that he is at the age now that babies do a lot of movement in their sleep that is important to their gross motor skills and helps them learn to roll over, crawl, and eventually walk. I try not to read into everything I come across but we were also at the point that we thought he had out grown the swaddle. Today while he was down for his nap, I heard him on the monitor wake up and was very upset. I went upstairs to check on him and his LEG was hanging out of the crib. AHHH! I was so upset and I picked him up and brought him downstairs to cuddle him then put him in the swing where I knew he would be ok. Keith made a little barrier on the crib so hopefully Sawyer won't wake up to any body parts hanging out of again!

Another new thing was this past weekend we tried out the high chair at my parents house. He seemed to enjoy it because he could look around at our level but I am not sure if I was ready for him to be big enough for it. He is just growing up so fast and it seems like every time I turn around he is doing something new!

This past Friday was my last day of work at Compass. I returned from my Maternity Leave at the beginning of July knowing it was going to be yet another adjustment but this one was by far the hardest. I started off with such a positive attitude but it quickly faded into regret and a personal let down. Keith would get home from picking him up at Honey's at 6 and by the time we ate dinner and gave him a bath it was time for him to go to bed. This was not the same quality time that I had experienced over the past 3 months when I was with him constantly. So, after much contemplation, budgeting, and letting go of some financial planning for the future, we decided we needed to make a change. To be honest, it was more me worried if we could do it without my income. Keith did not like seeing me that upset and knew we would be fine. So I asked the Lord to take control and he once again blessed us. I thought the solution for now would be to find something part time so I would have more time at home with Sawyer. I looked at different options and was willing to take a major cut as long as I could spend more time with my baby. In conversation with Keith's cousin, she mentioned that one of her husband's co-workers was looking to hire someone PT for his growing business. I told her that I would love to know more about it but really didn't think much more about it. Well, that night Keith filled in at a softball game and the guy who was looking for the position was on the team. I had told Keith about it that afternoon so he mentioned something to him. The next day Russ called and we had lunch the following week to discuss what he was looking for as well as my needs. It went really well and I thought that it would be the perfect fit. He called me last week and offered me the job! I went yesterday and we discussed my job description and when I would be working and I am really looking forward to it. I will be working Tuesdays and Thursdays and 9-12 on Wednesdays. The name of the company is Nowlin and Associates Wealth Management. I couldn't think of a better work schedule and it allows me to achieve my ultimate goal and priority which is to be with Sawyer as much as possible. And thanks to Honey, she will be keeping him while I am at work. She has been such a life saver and I am so appreciative for all that she has done for us. It is amazing what can happen when you put your trust in God. I am so undeserving of his grace and mercy.