Ok, so I can't believe I took that picture this morning! We woke up to a fresh blanket of snow this morning. This is just ridiculous! I am so done! Just three more weeks and we are in the south again!

And here are some pictures of our little guy in his favorite position! Like I said before, he is tolerating tummy time better these days.

Things here are ok. The last couple of nights have been trying. He seems to have slipped back into a bit of a waking up every 2 hours routine. I don't know why. Half the time he wakes up happy and just wants to talk, other times he's crying. I keep looking in his mouth waiting for more teeth. Nothing else I can see so far.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Ben at Work

We have had such a good week here at the Bishop house! I feel like Ben grew so much this past week! He's learning so quickly! He's hard at work learning! Ok, I'll stop using so many exclamation points, you get the idea. He is getting so good at using his hands. You can tell he sees something he wants, either on his tray, or hanging on his activity chair, and thinks about it for a minute, then reaches up and grabs it! Most of the time, that object then goes directly into the mouth, but he is getting so good at it. He will work on it forever. He has also learned that there are toys that make interesting noises and is getting good at shaking them about ever so often. There was another discovery yesterday. His foot! He kicked his leg up and held it, staring at his foot like "I think that is attached to me." "I can move that thing, too?" It was so cool to see. I know it's only a matter of time before he reaches for his foot and puts that in his mouth.


I can tell that he's definitely getting his preferences of toys. He loves, more than anything, his bouncy chair with the activity bar over it. He just reaches for it, grabs it, smiles at it and talks to it. The cooing is getting so good! He really likes his standing activity chairs. The problem with those is, as you can see, he can barely reach the floor. One of them he can and is learning to push off with his feet, but the other one is too tall for him still on it's shortest setting. And, he's almost reached the weight limit for that one! He also loves his counting caterpillar, and counting bear. The bear lights up and flashes at him, and I think puts him in a bit of a trance, but oh well. He's loving his books. He's super smart, you know. It's cute to watch him stare so intently at the pages. He furrows his brows and studies the animals on the pages. All these things are making tummy time a bit more manageable. He's getting stronger and able to just look around without working so much so it doesn't seem to be ending in a crying fit as often. He's also getting darn close to rolling over. It's scary. That means mobility is right around the corner.


We're getting excited about our Virginia trip which is right around the corner in about 3 weeks! Abby gets to go stay with my parents in Kalamazoo and it will be a nice little vacation for her, too. Although, with the weather getting nicer, on my days off we've been taking some nice walks. But, my parents have Lilly, Mattie, and all that land! I think Brian is looking forward to it, too. He's been working so hard lately, and with Ben passing out by 7pm most nights, Brian never gets to see him. I feel like I barely do! So, he'll get to see Ben and we FINALLY get to show him off the family down south! It's been so long, and we're both anxious to see everyone down there and introduce Ben!

We survived our second week!

Well, we made it through another week of work and daycare. Although, it seems our little Ben has his second cold. He's just stuffy and has a little cough, but otherwise seems to feel fine. He's happy, playful, eating and sleeping well. Ahhh, the joys of daycare!
I'm more comfortable with him going there now. They really seem to be getting to know him and enjoy him. He's sleeping better there, taking a couple naps a day. He's still pretty pooped by the time he gets home. Last night he was passed out by 7pm. He did alright all night, though. He was up at 1am and 4:30am. Both were quick feedings and then right back to bed. He's such a good boy.
He's really talkative these days. He'll watch your lips as you talk and concentrate so hard on them. Then, he'll do his best to mimic you. It's so stinking cute! He's getting better at reaching out for toys and holding onto things. He's also bringing them to his mouth like crazy! His hands are constantly going towards his mouth. He's also liking standing up. This is a good workout for Mom and Dad as our "little guy" is the size of most 8month olds! I met another 7month old baby this week at work and Ben is far bigger than him. He's the son of a girl I work with. She was so cute because she bought Ben a sleeper and was a little discouraged when I told her how big he was. Luckily, she bought a 9month size and in just a little bit he'll have grown into it!
Not much else to report! We're looking forward to some basketball this weekend and just chilling around the house.

Going back to work after baby...

Well, I just wanted to prove to everyone that Ben and I survived our first week back to the real world. I went back to work and Ben to daycare. I've been dreading this since the moment I found out I was pregnant. I think I did better than I thought I would! Brian may agree or disagree. But, we survived. I felt good on Monday morning at work. I think the key was that Brian took Ben to daycare. I left for work and my last image of him was happy in Daddy's arms. When I got to work I ate some oatmeal without holding a baby which was new. Oatmeal really tastes good! One thing I should not have done was call the daycare at lunch. I was going about my day, things were busy so it was going nice and fast, and then I called the daycare and my day was halted! They were painfully honest and told me that "Ben was having a hard time settling in." They could not get him to sleep and he was a bit grumpy. That made Monday afternoon the longest 4 hours of my life! Why call? There's nothing I could do! He wasn't in any danger, just not happy. So, I was miserable. I ran out of work as soon as I could and got my baby. He looked whipped! I got him home, fed him, and he passed out for the rest of the night. Tuesday morning was miserable for me. I left for work and the morning went soooo slow. Again, I debated calling at lunch. Why? Nothing I can do! But, I did anyway. Luckily, Ben was having a much better day. They sounded relieved! I was relieved! He was napping, looking around and eating well. Tuesday and Wednesday then went well for him and we were on our weekend! Together again!

One thing they were very impressed with was how well he takes a bottle (considering he's nursed). Well...look at him! It doesn't matter the administration, this boy will eat it! Ben is, in fact, bigger than the 6month olds in his room. He is longer and heavier (his weight is still proportional to his length)! I think we have to remind the workers there at times that he is only 3 months old. When I asked if they were swaddling him (to help him sleep), they were surprised that he "still liked that." So I said, "Well yes, he's only 12 weeks old." The trick is going to be finding a blanket big enough to swaddle him soon! We do still call him Gingantour. The sleeper in the video is a 6-9month sleeper. It's crazy!

One good thing about daycare is that he has slept through the night all week! There is so much for him to look at and stimulate him there, he's exhausted. I have gotten more sleep going back to work than I have gotten in the past 3 months! I feel great sleep wise! I missed him so much, though. Like I said, he was passing out pretty easy at night, and was out by 7pm so we really didn't get any awake time together this week. By Wednesday, I was watching old blog videos just to see him awake and smiling to get my fix!

So, we made. Some advice I have learned just from one week back would be:
1. Have Dad drop off baby. I know it sounds selfish, but he hasn't spent 24hours a day, 7 days a week with the baby for months. It's nice to leave for your first day at work with baby at home, happy, and you can picture him there all day. It won't be easy for Dad, either, so talk!

2. You can call the daycare whenever you want, but don't expect it to help you feel better!

3. Communicate with the daycare workers. Even though they gave us a packet of papers to fill out to help them get to know Gigantour, not all of them read it. You need to tell them the tricks that help your kid. And they should want to hear them and not act like they know best or already have their tricks because they do this for a living. Our place has been very receptive and seems to want to communicate with us to help them take care of him.

I hope to learn more and more as time goes on. And Gigantour is settling in and they are getting to know him. I hope it will get easier.

Back to work.....boooooo.......

So, as I write this, it is half time of the Duke/UNC game and Duke is ahead by 1. The Bishop family is decked out in Duke apparel. I busted out a Duke shirt for Ben. It's a recent gift from some friends in NC. The size of this shirt is a 6month. I could barely get it on him. I think this is the one and only time he will wear this shirt and then it will go into storage for his little brother or sister. Brian seems to think if Duke wins, we will frame the shirt and put it up in his room. If they lose, we will trash it.

We've had a good weekend. There has been crazy weather here. We've gotten a ton of rain and our backyard is now a lake. Ben has been sleeping a lot throughout the day. He just kinda passes out. He's not even needing to be swaddled anymore. He passes out in his bouncy chair, laying under his mobile, everywhere. Still only getting about 3 hour blocks at night, but what can you do. He's hungry! ALL THE TIME! And look at him! He's three months old! He's the same size as a 6month old at his daycare and growing out of 3-6month clothes! What have I created!

I'm trying to prepare myself (emotionally) for tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow I go back to work. I don't want to talk about it. But really! Where did these 3 months go?! It's crazy. Ben seems fine with it. Abby is looking forward to some peace and quiet, I think. I am a wreck. It's only part time. It's only part time. It's only part time!!

Ok, I'll get over it. I'm going to go hold my baby now who is passed out on the couch in front of the game. I have to stock up on cuddles and kisses to get me through tomorrow.

Spring has Sprung?

Ok, how cute!? Bath time has become so much fun! I couldn't quite catch the smile, he was again mesmerized with the camera. Granted, he always seemed to like the bath, it was the getting out and getting dried off that bothered him, but even that seems to have become enjoyable to him. He was all wrapped up the other day and I just couldn't help myself!

Things here are going well. I'm going back to work on Monday. I haven't cried in days about it. I am anxious to get out of the house and do something. Brian and I dropped off his stuff at the daycare yesterday, and they still seem excited to take care of him. I am a little worried about our "schedule." And by that I mean, "what schedule?" I don't know what to expect at this age, but we really don't have much that we can count on as far as a routine. His feedings are still spreading out but sleep is hit and miss. Two nights ago we were up every hour just about with something, then he barely napped yesterday AT ALL! Then, he passed out at 7pm last night, was up at 1am to eat (thanks Brian), then passed out again until 6:30am. He was up about an hour, now he's napping again! I don't know what to do. Any advice is welcome. I have ordered a book my friend recommended called "Good Night, Sleep Tight." She swears by it and wished she had read it sooner, so here's hoping.


I have added this picture for good reason. This was taken just two months ago from my kitchen window. That was our high that day. In case you can't see, it says -18. With the wind chill it felt like -40 or colder that day. We couldn't even let the dog out. The following image is of our thermostat just a while ago reading 65 degrees! That's an 83 degree difference! So, I got the stroller out and me, my boy, and my girl went for a walk. I think I still over dressed Ben, so we got home and I put him in his first spring outfit! The only problem with this weather...mud! Abby and I tried to fetch. After 2 throws even she didn't want to have any part of it. The poor thing ended up in the tub just from that! Oh well, still love it!

Kick Kick Kick

This boy sure loves to kick. I know that you may think that a minute and a half of watching my kid kick is a bit much, but I couldn't stop taping! This is actually the shorter of the videos I took, so consider yourself lucky! He's just so stinking cute! In this one, I think he looks so serious. He is thinking so hard about what's happening above him. But then his legs are flaring about! It's like he's trying to dance with them.

Not much to report. Just me sinking further and further into a depression thinking about going back to work just one week from tomorrow. I know, it's part time, but man, I'm not ready. Ben has been great! Happy baby. Still loves his mobiles (especially the new one), his swing, music, and hates tummy time. He's still growing at an exponential rate! And, I think he is starting to look more and more like Brian (minus the hair).

We do finally have a trip scheduled to go to Richmond. Ben's first plane ride! We're going in April to introduce him to the rest of the Bishop/Airington clan! We're excited. I think it will be good timing. He's getting more interactive and fun and the weather shouldn't be an issue (knock on wood).