4 Months!

(more than a week late, and three weeks after my last post, so not necessarily in chronological order)

First things first, Amelie learned how to roll!  

I think she's pleased with herself.

Going back to last month, here are the holiday pictures I neglected to post last time:

Aunt Margot and Uncle Jon came to visit from CO

Mamaw Chris on Christmas morning

Jon and Margot again...and Amelie with her ladybug chew, since she's a drooling little teether

Mamaw again, enjoying having all the kids home for Christmas at the same time this year!

Then Aunt Melody came to visit (G-ma Lynne's twin sister, from NY)

One of her favorite positions.

Somewhere in between 3 months and 4 months, she learned to......

...grab her feet, making diaper changes a bit more challenging...

....pet Atticus cat.... 

...dress up with a bow in her hair...

Happy New Year's Eve 2011!  

Caught with a sleeping baby, cat, and no makeup. 

Daddy makes her smile the most.

What's up, guys?!

Then, right before she turned four months old, it finally snowed here in Lancaster, Ohio!

SNOW!

Sunrise behind our house

Not sure how she feels about snow.  I'm sure the 20 degree weather didn't help.

In other news, Dorian and I have finally reclaimed a bit of our social lives, sometimes venturing out together, or sometimes taking turns staying home so he can go workout with his guy friends, or I can grab a quick lunch with my girl friends.  We took Amelie to Columbus to see some friends on New Years Eve, and we're planning our first overnight getaway next weekend, when Mamaw Chris babysits for 2 nights while we go skiing in NY with some friends.

Dorian has also been busy reclaiming his body with daily workouts, including P90X, boxing, and bball, and I've dedicated myself to catching up with work this year, especially since some of my partners were gone over the holidays.  I've gained much more confidence in taking care of clients alone, from start to finish, including billing matters (still my least favorite part of the job).  Sometimes I regret leaving Lancaster for 10 years before coming back, because I feel I could have learned much more about my hometown and formed more local relationships during that time, but sometimes I'm glad I gained perspective by living elsewhere, and appreciating the comparison and using new ideas back here.

Balancing life is still a challenge, but it's getting easier, save for the constant sleep deprivation.  It's amazing how my body seems to have adjusted to functioning on little sleep, but I still grab a nap whenever I can.   Speaking of naps, since Amelie just went down for a Sunday snooze, I'd better take advantage of this time and join her.

New Year, New Perspective

Pictures of Amelie to come later - uploading them takes all night and, no surprise, I don't have all night.  Those previous picture posts were at the expense of sleep, a hot meal, and probably a shower.  Now that sweet pea is teething, I've learned that I need to be a bit more selfish with my time if I'm to keep my sanity.

So 2012 seems like a good year to compare life before and after baby; I can remember:

• When procrastination used to be a choice.
• When I used to have clean floors and no clutter around the house.
• When I used to sleep more than 2 hours straight.
• When I used to stay up until 2 am for fun.
• When I used to shop for clothes for myself.
• When I ate hot meals.
• When I could jump in the car in 2 minutes and drive more than half an hour without stopping.

Those begin to sound as if life was better before baby...not so, because in return:

I have no problem billing clients for my time now.  These days, any time I work on documents or meetings = time away from my daughter, so if they aren't willing to pay for it, they clearly don't need an attorney that badly.  This has made me a very efficient attorney.  Any time at work = college funds for Amelie.  One great piece of advice my dad once told me is you must take care of yourself and your family before you can take care of others.  I finally get that.

I am more satisfied with my body now than I ever was before, even though now I'm probably more out of shape, I have more stretched skin, and I'm heavier than I've ever been.  I don't think I've ever been more amazed at what it can do - grow and birth a baby, and then feed it.  I can't believe I ever used to fret about a pound or two when I just created and sustained a perfect little human.

Speaking of things that used to seem very important now seem rather silly, and I can't believe I ever spent time stressing over my hair/makeup/clothes/pedicures, being cold (now all I care about is keeping sweet pea warm - I forget my own coat most of the time), celebrity gossip (I must have been bored), bickering in public with Dorian (immaturity), and making sure the laundry is folded perfectly (ha!).

I'll sign off with a related find on Pinterest to make moms feel better about the state of their home: