Another month gone in the blink of an eye!  It has been a very exciting month around here.

We made our first trip as a family of three back to Illinois last weekend for Jack’s baptism.  Generations of Matt’s family on both sides have been baptized at St. Anthony’s and with all of our family in Illinois it was a perfect choice for us.

Auntie Kate and Auntie Tina are Jack’s Godmothers.

Even though Jack has no cousins he is blessed with 4 very loving grandparents and 5 amazing great-grandparents.  What a lucky little boy!

Matt’s sister, Tina, and her husband, Brandon came home from Italy and met Jack.  Jack was pretty smitten with Auntie Tini – and has requested some cousins when they live in the US again.  😉  And Matt’s brother, Doug, came home too.  Doug might not be a “baby” person but I know he and Jack will be fast and furious friends through his toddler years.

It’s really amazing how quickly babies grow and change.  I had coffee with friends today and I found myself saying, “Oh yeah, Jack would do that when he was younger.”  Younger than 4 months?!  They really do change.  The giggles and shrieks of joy are the biggest descriptors of the month.  I look forward to his laughs more than anything.  Matt gets the best shrieks when he picks Jack up from day care.  We can tell that he really knows us now, and loves entertaining us.  He is becoming more independent and is happy to play quietly in his crib or playmat too.  Such a big boy!

Check out the 3 Month Update for comparisons.  By the way, I walked into his nursery this morning before heading to the gym to make sure he was still asleep.  Somehow he had turned on his mobile!  (Must have pushed the button with his little feet!)  Something new with Jack every day.

Mommy update after 4 months:  I have been back at work for about a month and have adjusted really well.  I am working 4 days a week (I am so lucky!) so I have been put on great projects but also get an extra day of Jack time.  Fitness-wise things are going really well.  I am back to early morning workouts for the most part, which means that I can make my workouts a priority and get in about 5 a week.  I’m working on getting faster and stronger every week.  And tomorrow I have my first postpartum 5K.  I’ll give you all an update after the race.

Have a wonderful weekend!

I hope you had a wonderful Easter with those you love.  Mine started with early Easter Mass.  Jack was up in plenty of time to eat and get to church by 7:30 (wow! Have our weekends changed).  We included him in our Easter tradition of scones and chai after church, and then took lots of pictures after we got home.

(Thank you for Peter Rabbit, Grandma Laura!)

And check out Jack’s two bottom teeth!

We were a little too busy this year to get distracted with chocolate bunnies.   But if you had an indulgent day I hope you savored every bite and have plans to get back to it tomorrow.  Have a great rest of the weekend!

Just a quick stop in to say hi.  Wonderful start to the day here!  Jack is back to his happy self now that the second tooth has pretty much broken through.  So I was well-rested headed into spin this morning and got a great workout.  Right before class my friend, Emily, lovingly bullied me into a 5 minute plank.  Love friends who push you!

And to help your day get off to a good start I have to share some quick videos of Jack from this weekend.  He thinks he is playing a game when I take his onesie off and giggles as he tries to pinch his arms to his side.  Matt will come to Jack’s nursery and ask if I’m changing a onesie again…and I give a huge smile and an unapologetic yes.

And the second is Matt with Jack…our sweet little boy is an equal opportunity laugher.

I hope your day is full of smiles too.  Anything making you laugh lately?

We are pretty excited for March Madness around our house.  Matt and I are working on brainwashing encouraging the new little Illinois fan.  Go Illini!

Notice Jack turning his head to watch the game.  I think we already have a basketball fan.  We were lucky enough to watch the Friday afternoon game with some college friends and their adorable kids who just moved to Kansas City from Atlanta.  Big change from the days in Orange Krush or from wild watches at Murphy’s but I love where life is going.

I taught two “later” spin classes over the weekend – 7am on Friday at 7:45am on Saturday at City Gym.  I love getting to start the day with a great group of people, and I appreciate not starting the day super early with the newest madness at our house.  Jack has his first tooth!  I was just sharing his 3 Month Update, so how does this little guy already have a tooth (bottom front)??  “What to Expect the First Year” says to expect the first tooth around the 7^th month but that some early babies might get their little pearly whites as “early as two or three months .”

I guess this means we will start brushing his little teeth soon.  When do you start flossing a baby’s teeth?

Join me for a slight detour: committing to regularly flossing was one of the best New Year’s resolutions I have ever made.  I decided about three years ago that flossing was probably one of the easiest ways I could impact my health.  Small time investment for huge payoff.  Cavities are ugly and expensive!  Consider this your friendly reminder to get back into the routine if you aren’t.

Back to more madness after a cute baby picture:

We got more snow this weekend!  Augh!  It was 80 last Friday and now we are back to shoveling snow.

My tournament picks are wounded but my winner pick is still in (Thanks, Dad!).  Who do you have winning the NCAA tourney this year?

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  Mine was full of friends and food.  Oh, yeah.  And this little guy.

(Thanks for the cool shirt from Ireland, Auntie Tina!)

I like sitting down on Sundays to do some meal planning and workout planning for the weekend.  Today’s meal prep included making plenty of steel cut oats to reheat throughout the week, roasting beets and sweet potatoes to add to salads, and making a beef goulash for Matt’s lunches.  Doing some of this prep givse me a head start to making healthy options throughout the week.  (As an aside, steel cut oats are supposedly a great food for mama milk production so I have been trying to have oats for my daily breakfast.)

Planning my workouts on Sunday makes me think about getting a good variety of exercises and makes me more efficient throughout the week.  If you’re in the Kansas City area and planning your workouts for the week I’m subbing spin on Friday 7am and teaching my regular every other Saturday 7:45am spin class, both at City Gym. 

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and that your week gets off to a great start.  If you’re looking for some early week inspiration I finally updated the “Favorites” tab with some of my favorite blogs and resources.  Enjoy!