Four Months!

I think I say this every time, but time is FLYING by! Our sweet Chandler is four months old (plus a week....) Chandler is starting to sit up with some assistance. She loves her Bumbo seat and her bouncy seat. She is chatting up a storm and has just recently started to squeal when she gets excited.

Adam and I wake up nearly every morning to the sound of her cooing and blowing sweet (and sometimes kind of violent...) raspberries. We had a great visit with Grandaddy and Gigi this month, they came to stay with us while Adam was out of town. We took Chandler to the Botanical Gardens and we enjoyed it so much that we went back the next week with Aunt Chandler.

Second trip to the botanical gardens!

Showing Aunt Chan her gardening skills!

I had an absolutely wonderful first Mother's Day and enjoyed spending the day with our little family of three! We celebrated with brunch and a little stroll and some window shopping! It was just the perfect day!

Worn out after an afternoon celebrating Mother's Day.

This month we dropped the swaddle! Chandler is now sleeping with both arms out of the swaddle. We're still keeping her midsection swaddled for a little longer and will soon move to the sleep sack. We are so lucky though, we have a very good sleeper! Chandler can roll from her tummy to her back, though she rarely does...I swear she just likes to make me worry! She also loves to hold and touch the faces of everyone that holds her...just watch out because the next step is attempting to put your whole face in her mouth.

Our little snoozer...

She has definitely started teething and the drool is insane. We are still exclusively breast feeding and aren't planning to introduce anything else until Chandler is six months old! At this rate, I think we might be seeing her teeth around the time with start trying other foods!

On the agenda for Chandler's fifth month...a trip to the beach, a visit with Grandaddy and Gigi in Georgia and an introduction to the pool!

We love you so so much, sweet Chandler. You have changed our lives for the best!

Sale!!!

Head on over to Instagram and follow me, @efsheehan, for my closet clean out sale over the next few days! 

3 Months!

Sweet girl, I can't believe you are three months old! The time has flown by and we have been having so much fun with you! This month you have started to show signs of teething and are constantly chewing on your hands. Your favorite "toy" right now is a burp cloth, which we are trying to replace with a lovie!

You have started to hold your rattle and your Sophie teething ring all on your own. You are talking in your own secret language and your daddy and I love to chat with you. This month you have started to giggle and you love it when I sing the ABCs, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". You still love bath time and are starting to splash around in the tub. Bath time seems to be your favorite time of day!

You are great at entertaining yourself and can spend a lot of time on your activity mat and in your bouncy seat. This month you were baptized, and we were so proud of you! You handled each baptism very well and were such a sweet angel.

You have just started sleeping through your middle of the night feeding, and we are so happy that we are all three getting some good uninterrupted sleep! We love you so much and each day is better than the last with you.

You weigh 12 pounds and we are taking the infant padding out of your carseat! You're a long little girl, and you're starting to get some of the sweetest little baby chub. We love your little cheeks and are enamored by your big smiles.

Your daddy and I are so proud of you and the way that you are growing up. We love you so much and can't wait for all the fun that we have planned for the summer.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of you from this last month!

Chandler's Baptism

Before the Baptism

Last weekend, our sweet girl was baptized. Since Adam and I started dating almost nine years ago, we've had a running "conversation" (sometimes heated...) about our future children's religious upbringing. Adam is Catholic...and he is a darn good Catholic, and I am Methodist...and a pretty darn good one as well. AND add to the mix that we're both just a teensy-bit stubborn and set in our ways and you've got the makings of a pretty interesting discussion.

Over the years we have gone back and forth on how, and where we would raise our children. It has always been so important to us that our children be raised in the church and with a strong support system for their growing faith.

Just before our little Chandler arrived, we decided it was time to make a decision, once and for all. Neither of us wanted Chandler to think anything was wrong with either of our respective churches, and neither of us felt like choosing one church for her was our decision to make. With all of that in mind, we turned to a dear friend of ours, the minister who married us.

With her advice and after much discussion, we decided to baptize Chandler in the Catholic church so that she might partake in all of the Catholic sacraments and be able to participate in all of the Methodist traditions as well.

This weekend, we saw our "plan" for Chandler come to fruition. On Saturday afternoon, our little one was baptized in the Catholic church. We were the only family with a child to be baptized on that day, and were lucky enough to have a private baptism with our family and close friends to witness. It was such a special and intimate time.

Chandler with her Godmother

Our little family of three with Adam's grandmother and parents.

...with my parents and Aunt Chandler

On Sunday, the Methodist church where I am a member, recognized Chandler's baptism and welcomed her into the Methodist church family. Both the baptism and baptism recognition were more touching and special than I anticipated. Two beautiful services to welcome our child into two beautiful faiths.

Though I felt a loss when we made the decision to baptize her Catholic, after the two ceremonies, I feel at peace. Chandler is going to be surrounded by faith, hope, and love and she is lucky enough to receive all of that from not one, but two church families.

Just after her baptism recognition, the Methodist choir that I so love being a part of, sang "Surely the Presence of the Lord is in this Place" and I couldn't help but think those words were being sung to us. Surely the presence of the Lord can be seen in Chandler's baptism and baptism recognition. Praise be to God for our endless blessings.

On the Decision to Stay at Home

After about six weeks at home with this sweet babe, Adam and I made the decision that I would not be returning to work. In an effort to leave a job and group of people that I love, I gave them my notice and agreed to work two weeks to wrap things up. 

This decision is one that has weighed on me since the day our little one was born, but once we made the choice, I haven't looked back. Not even once. 

I recently returned to work for those two weeks and while I have enjoyed catching up with co-workers, and let's be honest, putting on real pants (as opposed to my mommy uniform of workout clothes)...I miss my baby.

We have gotten into a routine together that I just can't leave. This first week of my last two weeks of work has certainly opened my eyes to the struggles and the strength of working mothers. And let me say, I applaud you...I truly don't know how you moms do it. You are real life super heroes! I know that I could do it. I could return to work and I could do the juggling act, and perhaps with time, I could do it well. But my heart isn't in it anymore. My heart is at home.

This new job I'm taking so far has proved to be the hardest, and sometimes most frustrating job I've ever had. But it is by far the ONLY job I have ever had that has truly captured my undivided attention, and more importantly my entire heart and soul. I have been pooped on, peed on, and spit up on all before 7:30am on more than one occasion and I have (as crazy as it sounds) loved every second of it. Being Chandler's mom is a challenge that makes me want to be a better version of myself every day.

I feel so blessed and lucky that I have a loving and supportive husband who has agreed, wholeheartedly, to take on the role as our sole monetary provider. It is going to be a huge change for both of us, and we welcome it with open arms. We have received so much support of our decision from our families and friends, thank you for that! This road is going to be rocky, but so worth it.