It's About Time

It's hard to believe. 
A whole month has gone by.
My sweet baby Luke is one month old.
I'm still getting used to the idea of being a mommy of 3. Hatcher family of 5. Baby mama of a newborn. 
I'm starting to feel normal again… well… in a two-hour-sleep-increment-stay-at-home-mom-which-is-not-my-norm-normal kind of way. That kind of normal. Which sort of feels good. Except for the sleep part. I really just want to sleep for like 12 hours straight. 

Sleep time. That's what I want most.

But, with that said, I have to admit it's been so much easier this time around. It's amazing how much power our minds have over a situation… simple perspective is all you need. 

Now that I've done this a couple times, I have a profound appreciation for how fast these wee little ones grow. The newborn and infant stage is nothing more than a moment in time. It's gone in a flash. Before you know it, that moment has turned into a year and then several years and they are off to kindergarten ~ no longer little babies. This is a precious time that I can never recreate and can never get back. That appreciation in addition to the painful realization that my 12 weeks at home, away from work, is slowly fading down to 8 and almost 7 weeks makes my current lack of sleep and that sweet newborn baby cry extremely tolerable. It's really all about time.

I've done my very best to save space every day for special moments ~ something I was terrible at doing my first two times around. Always a bathroom to clean, a floor to vacuum, a dish to wash… 

All that stuff still needs to get done but I've learned to put it aside many times in favor of savoring a moment… 

Moments like… 

~ lying in bed with my naked baby on my bare skin to take a nap 
~ sneaking off by myself (with Luke) to a Sunday matinee to see the movie 'About Time'… if he starts crying, you know what? I can just leave… it's no big deal
~ spending afternoons (baby in tote) at the bookstore, sipping on a latte and writing thank you notes 
~ taking my big boys to Build A Bear and indulging in the creation of a new buddy… a simple event that has kept a smile on Charlie's face for almost a week now 
~ spending evenings in Market Square with my crew enjoying the crisp fall weather 
~ and even making time for a date night coming up this Friday with Mr. Agrestic… well, Mr. Agrestic and baby Luke too… but when you've been toting around 3 kids, taking just 1 most certainly qualifies as a date night! (especially when it is the 1 who isn't quite capable of interrupting our conversations yet!) (ahh, perspective)

So, as you can tell, things are still chugging along as normal as possible here in the Agrestic household. While having a newborn has limited some of our activity, it's really just made for more simple time at home. Something I think we all appreciate… time at home ~

In that time…
we've made cookies,

 we've taken many a baths,

 Sam and Charlie have discovered a great love for drawing, writing, and creating all kinds of art (which makes mommy and daddy Agrestic very happy),

 I continue to gain an appreciation for how difficult newborn photography is… but keep trying every couple weeks… maybe someday I'll figure it out!

and we've raked leaves...

lots and lots of leaves...

 and of course, we've taken time to play in them too

 (still lovin' those baby blues)

and at the speed of light, time just keeps slipping by.