Two Months

On Saturday, London turned two months old. Two months since we welcomed our sweet girl...it has gone so quickly.

On Monday we took her to her two month checkup where she got her first shots. She has a fever tonight and seems sore, which makes me sad, but she's still so sweet, smiling and looking alertly around all evening.

London Elise is such a joy. She has the brightest blue eyes, tons of dark hair that won't lay down in the back, and the cutest gummy grin.

She follows objects with her eyes, smiles when you talk to her, and loves to be sung to.

She also loves to eat. She was 7 lbs., 3 3/4 oz. and 19 inches long at birth. At one month she was 9 lbs., 1 oz. and 20.5 inches long, and at two months she is 11 lbs. 13 oz. and 23 7/8 inches long. She is growing proportionally, Dr. Patterson said, which is good, so at least she's both big and healthy. :)

London at one month                                                                      London at two months

I love this sweet girl!

And just for fun, here is a comparison of Connor and London, both at two months old:

First Day Back

Today was my first day back after exactly nine weeks of maternity leave with my sweet London.

For the sake of keeping my writing authentic, I will tell you that I never thought I would want to stay at home with my children (but I have and still do respect those who work at home immensely). However, there were several times when I pondered how wonderful it would be to have Connor and London home with me all the time, to snuggle them and feed them and be their only caretaker.

The closer it came to going back, the more sad and anxious I became. It seemed irrational even to me, seeing as how there are only four weeks left of the school year.

However, if I know anything about myself it is that I easily become a creature of habit, and I do not enjoy having my routine changed. It's why I cried for weeks when I found out I had to move rooms and teaching positions in November, why I cried on my last day before maternity leave, and why I was so reluctant to come back to school today.

However, God reminded me today, as He does many times, that He is in control, that He has a plan, and through my amazing students and colleagues He reminded me why I genuinely love going to school every day.

Here are a few reasons why my return to school was so special:

Several students in my first period sophomore class (You know who you are and I am forever grateful for your kind welcome back to school.) stayed after school yesterday, hanging streamers from the ceiling, door, and podium, blowing up balloons, making posters and post-its, leaving roses, and notes all over my computer, and even bringing donuts, milk, and juice for the whole class.

I can honestly say that I do not believe I have ever taught a more thoughtful group of students.  They really care about their teachers, each other, and their community, and I am soaking up every last day with them.

The last photo of confetti was actually a welcome back from Mrs. Wilson and a gigantic confetti "gun" of sorts.  She never ceases to amaze me with her kind spirit and her love of fun and laughter.  Thank you, Pam.

Of course, I cried when I saw my room this morning, happy tears, tears of a reminder that I love my students almost like my own children, and even though I still missed my own children, I felt back at home at school, and I know this is where God wants me, both in my home and working with these precious people I am so blessed to have as students.  I am also blessed to work with wonderful, Godly, fun-loving people who welcomed me back all day long.

The day got even better when my dear friend and colleague Sarah brought this to my room:

I am so thankful to everyone who, whether they knew it or not, were instruments of God's love to me today. I have been blessed and humbled.

Thank you again to my students for the biggest surprise of my teaching career; you are the best!

Connor's Special Day

This post is a bit late, but I wanted to document our fun day, so I suppose late is better than never.

A couple of weeks ago, at the end of our Spring Break week, we took Connor to Bowling Green for a special day that was all about him.  This was just as he was beginning to have trouble adjusting to life with a new sibling (I need to devote a whole other post to all of his new fears, his insistence on sleeping beside our bed, etc...), and we thought he needed a day alone with us.

waking Connor up for his special day

My parents graciously took London for the day, and we headed out early that morning.  We started with lunch at Chuck E. Cheese's.  It was Connor's first visit, and he loved it.

Afterward, we took him to see The Croods.  He laughed and was enthralled the entire time, and just as the credits began to roll, I looked down at him in my lap and he was asleep.

Jason and Connor already picked out the next movie they want to see.  :)

He slept all the way home and woke up chattering for the rest of the night about how he wanted to go back and do it all over again.

I realized that day just how much both of our children will need individual attention, and that making them each feel special is just as important as spending time together as a whole family.  He has been so used to getting all of the attention that he had begun to act out as a result of having that partially taken away.

I believe fully that having a sibling will teach Connor many life lessons, including selflessness, sharing, patience, and many others, but after our outing I also know that I always want him to know that as an individual he is special as well and deserves some alone time with Jason, me, or both of us.

Despite the activities not being ones I might choose on a day to myself, I cannot imagine having a better time than the day we had with our sweet boy.

London's Smile

In just the last few days, London has gone from only smiling in a sleep or gas-induced haze, to smiling when she sees us or hears our voice. There is nothing like your baby smiling at you because she recognizes your voice or face.

I just had to share this video of my smiley girl that I caught this afternoon:

And for good measure, I couldn't leave my cute boy out. Below are two videos of him, one when he was little and had a love of a particular musical toy (When I was watching London smile, I couldn't but remember this video of Connor.  We used to watch it over and over.). The second video of Connor is more recent, and it's one that Jason took of him one night before bed. Love his sweet heart!

London Elise's Newborn Photos by C. Robertson Photography

It is hard to believe that later this week, London will be 7 weeks old.  It seems just yesterday that Jason and I were in the delivery room, chatting and listening to music, awaiting her arrival, and now I am headed back to school in just two weeks.

At about two weeks old, Candice, a dear friend and wonderful photographer, came over and captured these shots of our sweet girl.  Looking at them makes me realize just how much she has grown and changed in just a few short weeks.  I'm glad to have these photos of her when she was still so tiny and squishy.  :)

Thank you, Candice!