My little fella is 3 months old!

So I was going through my instagram feed last night when I realized that every single picture was one of my friends' children.  It's a nice feeling to see picture after picture of kiddos up to their cute antics.  Thankfully I was out of college before the wonderful iPhone - and the instant nature of the mobile upload - was invented so there weren't any pictures of these same friends up to their maybe not-so-sober collegiate antics.  Life definitely changes, and in my opinion, for the better.

My precious boys.

The big change for me was becoming a parent.  Getting married was one shift in my life.  I had to learn how to share a home and co-exist with another person 24/7.  I know that sounds not so romantic, but I knew I loved Lance to pieces.  What I didn't know is how my OCD self would manage having to permanently share space with another person.  Once this was managed, I knew we could make it through anything in our marriage. :) Becoming a mom, however, totally shifted my world.  It's like my axis shifted and nothing would ever be viewed from the same angle.  I didn't care about the things the way I used to.  William made me realize what truly being selfless meant.  I would sacrifice anything that mattered to me for the sake of his health and general happiness.  I say general because I would NOT be an over-indulgent mom.  It's not in my nature.  William gets in trouble.  He gets spats on the bottom when he continues to defy my words.  He also gets my whole heart when he gives me a hug and says, "my love you momma".

Chuck-e-Cheese Please!

Then came Charlie.  Lance thought I was ridiculous before and during my pregnancy with Charlie.  I'd get pretty upset trying to figure out how I would love another baby the way I loved William.  I didn't think there would be enough room in my heart.  I would ask Lance if it was normal for parents to feel that way, and he just didn't see it the way I did.  He couldn't wait for his second baby.  I stressed and worried over whether I could love Charlie the way I did William up until the moment I met him.  Granted my introduction to him was a little different than how I met William, but both came into the world being difficult.  After a wonderfully painful labor and delivery - William then decided not to breathe right away (or maybe he took his breath too early and aspirated some fluid), and it took forever to hear his first cry.  Charlie on the other hand was welcomed into the world through a medical precision of a c-section.  He entered the world with a strong wail.  My first sight of him (over the curtain), brought tears to my eyes.  He also decided to be a concern from the beginning.  He had fluid on his lungs and low blood sugar.  I didn't get to hold him or try to feed him for 4 hours.  As soon as I had him in my arms, I knew that my heart had just exploded.

Charlie was a beautiful newborn (maybe thanks to the lack of getting his head smushed). I have loved getting to know this little fella.  He's an awesome AWESOME baby.  Thank goodness because William is a barrel full of monkeys by himself.  Charlie is laid back and has such a happy disposition.  He sleeps well and just generally chills.  Charlie has brought balance and perspective into my world.  He helped solidify my desire and decision to be at home.  Every day I get to spend all my time with his cute little self.  I know it's probably because he's around me more than anyone, but he just seems to light up so much when I talk to him.  I get pretty goofy to bring out his smiles and little giggles.  His little blue eyes just make my heart melt over and over again.  I cannot believe he's been with us for 3 months.  It seems like we just found out we were going to be blessed with another baby (after almost a year of praying for him).  He has been an answered prayer, and I cannot imagine the Glover family without him.  I was made to be a momma to my two boys.  William has become a whole new child as a big brother.  You can tell he thinks that Charlie hung the moon.

Happy three months Charlie bear!  I love you to the moon and back.

My new normal...

This is the week that I would have returned from maternity leave - well I guess today would have been a snow day, but you get the idea.  Instead, I'm officially a stay at home mom!

I know it seems as though I've been beating the dead horse by constantly talking about staying at home, and technically I have been at home since the week of Thanksgiving.  It just feels a little bit different knowing that I no longer have employment. I haven't been this stress free in YEARS.  My entire life has been filled with me learning something new, and now I get to learn how to be an awesome version of myself.  All of the learning has been education/career focused until now: 13 years of k-12, 4 years of college, almost 3 years deciding between law school and grad school, 2 years of grad school, 2 years learning how to be a higher ed professional…and before I know it, I'm 30.

In my last post I mentioned all the goals I have for being 30.  I should add one more of getting to know myself better.  I spend so much time getting to know other things and people, that I don't get to spend much time on me.  I still don't with me spending 24 hours a day with Charlie, a little less than that with William, and quite a bit less than that with Lance.  However, there are those quiet times where I'm not cleaning or doing laundry, and I can just think.  I know I want to be happier with myself - and a big part of that is being healthier.  Another part of it, is that I can be a bit of an intellectual (not at all in a conceited manner) who needs to have her brain stimulated.  That was a concern of mine when deciding to stay home.  I didn't want to give up my daily brain usage.  I'm now figuring out that there is no such thing as an idle brain with me - it just redirects.  I will always have something I'm needing to plan or a new skill to learn.  It seems that lately, I've been feeling pulled to writing.  I'd love to have an amazing idea strike me so I could have so much fun writing. I have a little pipe dream of writing a novel, the problem is that I need the idea or concept. I don't even care if it ever gets published, I'd just like to have an original idea written by yours truly.  We'll see what develops in months to come. :)

Because everyone deserves to see a picture of two precious brothers

On the family front, my boys continue to become more and more awesome.  William is becoming so funny, and I think he may be realizing that his defiant streak gets him nowhere, so there's no point in letting me have it.  Our lingering issue is getting him to keep his butt in bed.  Every night takes us over an hour to get him to bed.  He comes out with a request for hugs and kisses, then to have help going potty, and then just to have mommy or daddy to lay with him for a minute.  I'm constantly conflicted.  Parts of me wants to indulge him in his requests, because he will never be this age again.  The other part of me gets totally exhausted by his persistence and I just want him to hush up and get in bed. I guess if this is how one big annoyance then I can live with it.  His little brother being totally adorable also helps me cope with the tiny William drawbacks.  Charlie is getting to the point where he's desperately trying to giggle.  Lance can get him going by singing "Horse Right Here" from Guys and Dolls (don't tell him I wrote this), and I bring the giggles out by smiles and chats.  I guess he just thinks I'm funny looking.

Oh yeah, I can't remember if I mentioned that I donated my hair on my birthday.  I gave up 9.5" to Beautiful Lengths.  I originally donated to them in 2007 through Walmart when 7 of us at the home office were selected to have our hair cut and styled by celebrity stylist Danilo (think Gwen Stefani).  This time I think may hair was longer than it had ever been.  See the pictures? I'm so relieved to have it chopped.  Long, thick hair (while pretty) can be a literal pain.  Since my hair is so heavy, it actually gives me headaches when it is long.  Not to mention it takes 20-30 minutes to straighten - not to mention time needed if I actually dried it.  Now I can have my hair dried and straightened in the time it used to take to straighten.  Plus… may hair is going to make some lady a pretty nice wig some day.

That's all for now.  Happy Monday!  Hopefully everyone is staying inside and safe from the frigid air and crazy white stuff. Take care all!