Bits + Pieces

We have had such an eventful week between Christmas Eve and Day festivities and Benjamin turning one month old. It's hard to believe that there are any more photos to share in this weekly wrap-up but there are! I am the epitome of a "mamarazzi" and I'm okay with that. I about died laughing when I read some of the definitions on urbandictionary.com. 

Mamarazzi (noun): 

1. " Mothers who constantly follow their children around with several cameras and video taking equipment, snapping photos at each turn and documenting each milestone or event with at least two dozen photos and a video." 

2. "A mother that takes pictures of everything. Mainly of her children."

3. "A new even more aggressive paparazzi. Mamarazzi are the moms who insist on taking picture after picture after picture of their children with Santa, at the park , playing soccer all while yelling at their children to "smile better." (minus the "smile better" part. I'm good with capturing the tears, funny faces, and mean mugging too.)

So, without further adieu...

1. Benjamin getting a few more minutes of sleep in the morning. After nursing him I held him a few more minutes before getting up for the day. // 2. Underneath all these piles is a bed. It's become a bit of a dumping ground of clean laundry and mail in the last few weeks. I've done laundry plenty of times but never seem to manage to get it put away. // 3. I have a big mirror in the backseat that allows me to see the baby while looking through my rear view mirror while driving. Benjamin was quite taken with himself. // 4. Me nursing in the mother's room at Babies R Us. I was so proud of us! We even had company - two baby girls ages 6 and 7 weeks. // 5. We were very excited to receive gift cards to Target on Christmas. Yesterday we went and picked up this swing and tonight we purchased the batteries for it. So far he seems to love it which may mean hands free naptime for me! Yay! // 6. Every morning after nursing I open the windows to show Benjamin that it's daytime. I change him into the day's clothes, give him his vitamin, and we get out of bed. This is one of his longer wake times. I usually take advantage of his good demeanor to photograph him in whatever cute outfit he's wearing. Now we're starting to play more as I introduce him to his toys. // 7. And speaking of toys, Nana and Pop Pop bought him this glow sea horse for Christmas. I put him in the cradle for the first time today and Benjamin loved it! He was mesmerized and both times he fell asleep. This makes Mommy very happy!! I only wish the music and light lasted longer. // 8. Last week I saw these fantastic vintage-inspired blocks on my Instagram feed. I told Ben that Benjamin's friend had these blocks and that he really liked them. We were so excited today when they came in the mail. Such a happy surprise! // 9. Today Benjamin wore the. cutest. outfit. ever! It says "little stinker" and has a skunk on it. It's super cute! I especially love those stripey patches on his knees! // 10. I forgot to mention it in my letter to Benjamin but he loves bath time. Loves. He doesn't mind the sound of the water running at all and I have to wonder if that's because of the 1-2 baths I took every day of my pregnancy. He loves sitting in the warm water and often tries to lay back further than I'll allow him. It's such a great bonding experience for us in there. I smile the whole time thinking, "he's a water baby, too!" I love it. // 11. Breastfeeding continues to get better for us. I still don't feel we're "on the other side" just yet but I can see that it's possible. Yes, that's my boob. Yes, it's still bigger than his head. Yes, I plan to talk all about my boobs and breastfeeding in another blog post very soon. // 12. My Aunt Kim has been sick since Benjamin was born. She was unable to visit us in the hospital and then too sick to come to Christmas. It's been a real bummer! Today she was feeling better so she and my cousin, Trevor came to visit. This photo cracks me up. Check out Buster. I didn't even notice him there but good lookin' out, Buster. Funny side note - it's happened multiple times this week but if my mom and I are holding the baby and pacing the living room, Buster is right at our heels pacing too. It's the funniest and sweetest thing. // 13. For Christmas we got this bottle warmer and strainer. You can see we have a little bit of everything on the strainer. I think I'll review some of it in the breastfeeding post. Suspense. ;) // 14 + 15. One month old photos I took of Benjamin yesterday. Swoon.