Catching up

Holy moly I can't believe it's already November! And in just about a week our baby boy will be five months.

I spent almost every day the past two weeks babysitting Selah, my friend Ashley's sweet baby girl who is only two and a half weeks younger than Gray. Can I just say I am thankful I didn't start motherhood with twins?! Dang y'all, it was no joke! Thankfully it was only four and five hour days and they were really pretty good for the most part. It just seemed like they were on the exact same schedule, which made some of the time pretty crazy. They wanted to eat at the same time and they wanted to sleep at the same time, which meant one or the other (and sometimes both) were crying at several times during the day. Gray slept in a pack n play there so he didn't nap nearly as good as he does in his crib at home. Selah only sleeps about 30 minutes at a time. Needless to say, I had my hands full-literally! But I was thankful to be able to help a friend and make some money.

Soccer season is officially over. It's bittersweet. Bitter because Paul really enjoys coaching and it would have been great if the team could have made it further in the play offs. But mostly sweet because it means a lot more time spent together as a little family. Paul got home at 4:00 yesterday!! I didn't know what to do with myself. Gray didn't either. It was like he could sense his daddy being home and he woke up right when he came in the door from sleeping only an hour. So we went and voted early and ran some errands and had dinner at a normal dinner time. Hello, "normal" family life, I have missed you so!

Gray has been doing great lately. He has discovered his voice which has made things a bit loud around the Hicks house. He loves to squeal. The louder, the more fun for him. He still can't seem to stay awake for more than two hours, which doesn't seem very long for a baby his age. My boy loves some sleep and I guess I should be thankful for that. It is still making errands and going places difficult though. However, I am not taking for granted the fact that we can go out, even if it's not for long, and he doesn't scream in the car or while we're out. But when we hit that two hour mark, he lets me know it's time to go. I stay out sometimes and try to make him fall asleep in his car seat, but he usually wins and we head home to his bed. I am trying to let him spend time by himself every day. It's hard because I want to interact with him every second that he's awake but I don't want him to be spoiled and I think him learning to be independent is so important. One day I just let him play for as long as he'd do it to see how long he would hold out. Y'all, he entertained himself for over 30 minutes!! Maybe that's normal for his age but I was excited nonetheless. He is just so much fun right now. He is really starting to laugh more and more and I cannot get enough of that sweet sound. Daddy normally gets the best laughs out of him and I love that for both of my boys. My heart feels like it could explode any minute.

Blessed continues to be such an understatement.