We went out to dinner the other night and our little man was only happy when we let him sit at the table like a big boy.  He's so funny...and growing up too fast!

(Sorry about the poor picture quality...I take most pictures on my phone)

It's hubby's birthday today!  I am excited to celebrate this day with him.  We have to be creative since we're in a hotel at the moment, but it will be fun all the same. 

Happy Birthday, love of my life!

We've been reading this book:

It was one of hubby's childhood favorites. 

I'm hoping to add this book to our collection:

It was my childhood favorite.

I want to have lots and lots of fun books to read to my baby...so what was your childhood favorite?  I'd love to add it to my list!

This weekend we went camping in the mountains of Tennessee.  It was a lot of fun!

I was worried about taking a young baby camping, but my little man did great.  He connected with nature...

...and with family.  :)

And his mama was just happy to have her hubby and baby around!

We are headed to the mountains to enjoy scenery like this:

Happy Weekend, everyone!

My darling baby let me sleep for 4 hours at a time last night.  Mmmmm heaven!

My internet is running so slow today that I can't even get blogger to load pictures!  So I'm saving my picture post for another day.

We are getting ready to visit the hubby this weekend, and I'm writing a list of things we need to pack.  I don't want to forget anything!  I hope I can fit everything into one bag.  Trips are twice as complicated with a baby, but it is so worth it to see hubby!

I am a night owl, and I hate getting up early.  My definition of "early" is anything before 8:30 in the morning.  Hubby is more of an early riser and, I'm not joking, often wakes up singing.  His perky attitude grates on my cranky morning nerves!  And so it just figures that baby would take after his father and also be a morning person. 

I wake up most mornings to my little one talking in the bassinet beside my bed.  When I roll over and take a peek, I am greeted with a big gummy grin.  Though mornings tend to make me cranky...who can truly be cranky with such a sweet greeting each morning?

My baby's sweet faces and smiles really make my day.  I am constantly grabbing for the camera or my cell phone (whichever is closer) to snag a picture of the newest face my baby is making.  I post these pictures on Facebook, text them to family, and make sure that when hubby is away he gets at least one picture daily.  Here is one from yesterday:

Isn't it just too cute???

My poor baby hasn't been feeling well today, so we have done a lot of snuggling.  It is kind of nice to just snuggle.

For Father's Day I sent a picture text to my hubby, dad, and father-in-law of my sweet, smiling baby.  My dad told me it was the best Father's Day card ever.  I thought that was sweet.

Now I just want to say...Happy Father's Day to all the men who have chosen the path of fatherhood.  It's a challenge and an honor to parent one of God's precious children.  I'm so grateful for my father who took that responsibility seriously and loved, protected, and guided me.  I'm grateful that my father-in-law did the same for my husband.  And I know that because of the examples he has had, my husband will do the same for our children.

My baby never ceases to amaze me.  Since I've never had a baby before, there is a lot I don't know.  Every time my child does something new, I am so impressed.  After laughing and smiling and celebrating the new milestone, I run to the computer to google said milestone and see if my baby is ahead of the average baby.  I can't help but take pride in my child. 

Just this week I caught my little one pushing up during tummy time and throwing one leg to the side.  The manuveur made it look like my awesome child was insanely close to rolling over.  Like any proud mom would, I ran to grab the video camera.  There was no way I was going to miss this milestone!

Although I continue to notice lots of pushing during tummy time, that clever child of mine has yet to actually roll from tummy to back.  But I remain impressed, excited, and hopeful.  It will be soon, I just know it!

Sometimes my little one is so tired....tummy time becomes nap time.

While the hubby works out of town, baby and I have spent a lot of time alone...just the two of us.  I love this time to bond with my little one.  I have learned how to interpret the various grunts, whines, faces, and cries.  I love that my baby smiles at me, recognizes my smell, and calms down almost instantly when placed next to my heart.  The bond between mother and child is a beautiful thing.

Although I love how close my baby and I are, I look forward to hubby being around again.  I want him and baby to also create a special bond.  I love when I get to watch hubby talk to, play with, and share experiences with, our precious child.

Today my baby gained a cousin.  The two babies will be so close in age, I am excited for the bond I hope they will form as they grow.  Baby's cousin measures as tall as my little one, so we can already imagine who will be the shorter of the two as they grow!  I'm still waiting to see pictures, but I've been told that this little child has a full head of hair...unlike my own baby who has a head full of soft peach fuzz.  Amazing how two babies within the same family can already display so many differences!

I wanted to create a blog that was open to anyone who wanted to read, whether they had a blog account of their own or not.  I also wanted to protect my family.  I hope I have found a way to satisfy both desires.

This blog will have stories and thoughts from my daily life as I make this journey as a wife and mother.  To protect the privacy of my family, in case strangers stumble across this little piece of cyber space, I won't use names and I will limit pictures that could identify myself or my family.  Despite this, I hope that my friends and relatives that have not subscribed to my private blog will be more inclined to follow this blog.