Is it really almost February?

Crazy that its almost February 1st...it makes me happy and sad. Happy because the Super Bowl and Valentine's Day are coming up, so we have excuse eat fatty food and attend a few fun parties. Also happy because Austin is getting bigger and easier every day. I do not want time to fly by and I'm definitely trying to savor every stage and moment...but as you know, the newborn stage is hard and exhausting! I'm sad that it is already February because this is the month that I have to go back to work. I've loved my time at home all week long with Austin. I know that this is ultimately a good thing because I like structure and I love my job and my coworkers....but its still sad to leave the "do whatever we want all day" days of maternity leave.

I had every intention of blogging more often than I have, but life has gotten in the way. January was a busy month! In true Darcy fashion we decided to do everything at once and in addition to learning how to be parents, we've been dealing with this...

I could write a novel about it, but the short story is that we may or may not be moving...it depends on whether or not (and for how much) we can sell our house. And that is a total toss up in this economy/market. And to be honest, I'm a little torn. If we sell, we are moving back to Texas and will build in a great community right by my parents called Woodforest. http://www.woodforestdev.com/
The draw is more space for less money, yard for Dexter, close to my family, close to my work and Andy just needs to be close to the airport for work since he travels so much.  If we don't sell, we are staying put in a house we love with the best neighbors/friends anyone could ask for. We have wonderful friends here and love being close to Andy's family. So really we are in a win-win situation either way. It just seemed like the timing might be right to make the move. Its definitely a challenge showing a house with a 3.5 month old baby and hyper 80 lb dog, but such is life and its good for me to learn how to run errands with a baby in tow.

In other news (and random thoughts)...
> Austin is sleeping a little better through the night. Usually wakes up 1x to eat and goes straight back to sleep. I'm slowly weaning him from the swaddle and I think its helping.
> The weather has been so nice here the last few days and Austin seems to love going for walks in the fresh air...yay for me. He was boycotting the stroller for a bit so I was feeling a little stuck inside.
> I've had a few girls nights out and they are SO necessary and fun! We went to Rappongi's in La Jolla last night...so yummy and had lots of good laughs! I came home to a well fed, sleepy baby (go dad)!
> Granny was here again last week since Andy was gone Sunday to Sunday for work and we are sooooo thankful that she is willing to hop on a plane anytime to come help out!
> I'm obsessed with Pinterest..if you haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet...then jump. Maybe I'll even write a blog post about some of my favorite finds. Ok, who am I kidding...I stink at blogging frequently.

Here are a few pics of my favorite little friend:

Shout Out

This is a much delayed shout out to the fabulous Megan Arroyo for taking our Christmas Pics!

Check her out: http://meganarroyo.com/baby-photography/little-darcy/

Austin's 3 Month Update

Austin, are you really 3 months old already? Time is really flying! 

We don't have a doctor's appointment this month, so I don't have official height/weight stats...but I think you are somewhere around 12.5lbs and 24 inches. We had to make an "emergency" trip to the pediatrician on December 30th because your eye swelled shut and half of your face turned beet red...turned out to be nothing of course...but you weighed 11lb 10oz that day and you scared your mama half to death. 

You've graduated to size 2 diapers already and are just barely hanging on to your 0-3month clothes. You are a little too long for them but you are too skinny for the 3-6 month clothes. I think this will be a trend for you. 

You are so much fun at this stage. I can tell you are soaking in the world around you. You are a Mr. Chatterbox and you love to coo and "chat" back to us all of the time. I could chat with you all day long. You are all smiles when you are awake and you even try to smile and play with me during the night sometimes. Its so hard not to talk back.

Your neck is so strong and you can hold it up for a long time when we do tummy time. You rolled over at least 4 times the other day (tummy to back) but you don't always do it when I put you on your tummy. 

For the last week or so you've been intently holding your right fist out in front of your face. You must be planning something in that little head of yours... you just haven't quite figured out how to connect the dots yet. 

You often stick your whole fist in your mouth. You haven't found your thumb yet but I'm hoping you learn to suck your thumb instead of the paci sometimes so you can soothe yourself to sleep. (I might regret wishing for that later in life). 

You love when we hold you up so you can "walk" and use those little legs.

When you're sitting in your bouncer seat, you bat at the hanging toys. I'm sure grabbing is next!

You are still sleeping in your bassinet but we moved you to your own room finally. The crib transition needs to happen this week, but I'm waiting for your dad to get back in town to help me. We still swaddle you for all of your naps and nighttime, but I'm debating leaving one or both arms out. I've tried it a time or two and I don't think you're quite ready - maybe in the next few weeks. 

We are still working on nailing down your little schedule, but I think we are making progress.

Sleeping through the night isn't quite happening yet either. The perfectionist/planner in me is having a hard time with this because I feel like you should be sleeping through the night by now. You will usually wake up once around 1:30 or 2 and again around 5 or so. I'm experimenting with different bedtimes, cluster feeds, dream feeds, etc...but I haven't found the right time/combo for you yet. You might just be catching up on your weight still, or going through a growth spurt. Or you just don't like to let me sleep ;) Who knows?!

The month you had your first Christmas and your first New Years. Your Grannie came to visit again and you did lots of playing and hanging around the house. 

All in all this was a fun month! Its a million times easier than week 5-6 or so even though sleep is still a little scarce. 

I am so grateful for a long maternity leave and for the time I get to spend with you. I go back to work on February 17th and Jessi will start to nanny full time then. Thankfully, I work from home so I'll still be around to see you all day :) God is good and has provided quite the little set up for us. 

We can't wait to watch you grow and change this month!