The Britt Family: Approaching 3 months!

I cannot believe that Connor will be 12 weeks old on Sunday. That means one thing...my 12 week maternity leave is coming to a very abrupt end! I cannot believe how fast the past 3 months have gone by!! So much has happened and Connor has changed (and changed us) so much!

I start back on Monday, and luckily it is only 2 days a week! I feel very fortunate that I am able to go back part-time, but it is still going to be very hard to leave him! We are very blessed and have two grandmothers that are willing to drive 120 miles each week (60 each way) to watch him one day each. Each of them will get special bonding him with him that is irreplaceable. Having them watch him will make leaving for work each day a little bit easier than if we had to drop him off with strangers. It'll be interesting to see how Connor reacts to my absence. I've been told by multiple people that he may have a bit of separation anxiety (as I'm sure I will too)! I hope it doesn't affect him too much. We've been apart for about 6 hours at the most, but my work days will be pushing it to 11 hours with driving to and from work.

Connor's new "thing" he has been doing over the past week or so is talking. He has definitely found his voice! Some days I think I have a little owl in the house! All I hear is "Oooo, Ooooo, Ooooo"! It is so cute! I'm sure it will just continue to get louder and louder! He is developing quite an little personality. He is a "studier" and often has a very serious look! I'm always wondering what he is thinking!!

Connor and I ventured out today to the Mother & Baby class that we used to go to when he was 3-4 weeks old. It is pretty much just an open forum for new mothers to go to with questions/concerns. Most of the discussion is about nursing. Anyhow, they have a scale there for you to weigh your babies. Connor weighed in this morning at 12 pounds 10 ounces. I can't believe he has gained over 5 lbs since his lowest weight at 4 days old (7 pounds 2 ounces)!!

Last week Connor and I went for a walk at a local walking path and decided it would be fun to throw down a blanket and take some pictures! I was so happy with how they turned out that I decided to get them printed. I was told about a website that you can upload your pictures to and have them printed on professional looking paper for a pretty cheap price! I got a few wallets printed to see if I like them. They should be coming in the mail any day now! Ryan convinced me to take a photography class that is being held in Harrisburg over the next 6 weeks. I'm pretty excited about it because it is something I've always wanted to do. I am hoping that it will teach me how to use our complex digital camera that we got before Connor was born. The camera takes great pictures, and now we have a place where we can get nice prints of our pictures, so hopefully I can start taking my own pictures of Connor instead of taking him to a professional every couple of months!

Ryan and I decided that we wanted to go strictly to cloth diapers and wipes. The financial savings is just too great not to do it. So, the cloth diapers came in the mail today! Sounds silly, but I'm excited to get them washed and all ready to go! I'm sure we'll still use disposables when we are traveling and out & about. But, for the most part, we'll just be using cloth. Connor looks so cute in them! They are like a little pillow for his tush!

Connor is still sleeping like a champ!! A normal night goes like this: around 8:30-9 Connor lets us know that it is time to go to bed (it is VERY apparent), I nurse him, and then we change his diaper and get him all swaddled up and down to bed around 9-9:30. He usually starts to stir around 4:30-5:30, so we give him the pacifier and turn on some white noise and he'll go back to sleep until 6:30-7! He has us very spoiled! By 7am, he is ravenous and very eager to eat!! We usually cuddle in bed for a little bit afterwards before starting our day! His day time feedings usually don't make it more than 2 1/2 hours apart, but I'll take that if it means that he sleeps all night!

The rest of this week I am going go try to spend as much quality time as I can with Connor. We are getting company tomorrow and Thursday. Tomorrow Ryan's parents and his cousins are coming to visit in the evening. On Thursday, my aunt Nancy is coming for the afternoon. This Saturday Ryan is going to the PSU game and I have my photography class in the AM, so my brother & niece are watching Connor for a few hours. The rest of the day we'll probably just relax. Sunday is a very exciting day!! Flag football season starts!! I was able to play last year until we found out I was pregnant, and then I stopped because people were getting stitches!! haha We didn't think it was a good idea for me to chance getting hurt!! It was a blast though (I scored 2 TDs AND threw a TD pass)!! I am not playing this year; Connor and I will cheer daddy and the rest of the team from the sidelines, but I am still very excited to watch! Go Hershey Squirts!! (Interesting team name, I know!! haha).

Many babies on the way over the next 6 months or so: my cousin, Jen, is expecting Miss Phoebe any day now; one of my best friends, Jenna, is expecting baby Moyer next month; our friends Chase & Jenny have Miss Emma on the way and she's due in January; Ryan's cousin, Chelsea, is expecting a baby boy in early 2011; and I have a bunch of other high school friends that are expecting as well! Babies are in the air!!

So, when do we want baby #2?? Should we have them back to back or wait?? That's the question of the day lately! I know it is kind of crazy that we are even thinking about that already, but if it were solely up to me and finances didn't play a role, I'd have another one as soon as I got another 12 weeks off at work!! Neither Ryan nor I had siblings close to our age, so we think it would be nice for Connor have to have brother or sister that wasn't too much younger than him. BUT, if there is anything we've learned about the whole 'baby makin' process (haha) it is that you cannot plan it! Connor was long awaited; he is a Clomid baby (google it). So, when the time is right, I guess we'll have #2! What are your thoughts?? Feel free to comment below!

On a little bit of a side note: Ryan did excellent on his GMAT exam scoring in the 80th percentile! Now we just have to wait to hear from PSU to see if he got in! If he does, he'll start classes in Jan!

I'll leave you with a few pictures from the past couple of weeks!