Until then, get your smiles today by watching the happiest of happy babies.

Its easy to sit and “pin” things all nightday long. I’ve spent many midnights nursing Miles and pinning from my Nook. I always have the intention of trying out the recipes and craft projects I’ve pinned but life gets in the way and more often than not, I just look at the pretty pictures.

That said, I have actually tried out some of the things I’ve found on the site and I’m always excited to tell people when they asked where I came up with the idea, “Oh, I found it on Pinterest…”

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Brownie Batter Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

Pleated Scarf

Duvet Cover

Maternity Photo Pose

Quilted Playmat

Lemon Bars

Reese’s Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Slutty Brownies

Miles is two months old today. Some days, it doesn’t seem like its been that long since he was born. Other days, it feels like he’s been here so much longer…

The weight is starting to stick (finally) and all signs of those early days of nursing troubles are behind us. He was just shy of nine pounds at his last weight checkup earlier this week. The plural chins are forming and the wrist dimples are showing.

 Nights are still ours and ours alone. This boy stays up into (and sometimes through) the wee hours of the morn. And he wants to be entertained the entire time. No sleeping on the job for mom. Its all about engaging. But I don’t mind as long as he tosses a smile or two my way.

I’d forgotten how quickly babies change.

Miles started smiling a couple of weeks ago. For weeks while his sleep, one corner of his mouth would tick up in the tiniest of grins. Then one day, BAM!, like a switch was flipped. Stuffed animals get coos and almost giggles. Mommy and daddy get the occasional amused smirk. But no one seems to get those full on open-mouthed smiles like Big Brother.

Rolling over is a MILEStone that I hadn’t been watching for. I assumed we had months before he even started looking like he wanted to do it. Tummy time is a part of the daily routine and has been for weeks now. I guess he got tired of being on his belly because he started rolling. Rolling. And he’s done it over and over. I’m still not sure that its done with the intention of getting onto his back or if its just “Hey Ma! Look at this!” Either way, its pretty cool.

Seven years.

I’m can’t even begin to fathom that its been that long since Kaleb was handed to me for the very first time.

It can’t be.

It was just yesterday when I sat in the hospital holding him close to my heart and staring at him to learn every inch of his face, wasn’t it?

I’m amazed every day at how much he has grown. He’s reading. He’s writing. He’s adding and subtracting. He’s got a knack for making friends and telling great jokes. He is compassionate and gives hugs without reserve.

One seven layer chocolate cake. Thirteen family and friends. Dinner at his favorite restaurant. Seven started off quite nicely for my biggest boy and it looks like its going to be  good year.

Happy Birthday Bubba!

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

I’d originally planned on bringing Miles home from the hospital in the blanket I started knitting for him way before he was born. I even named it the Home From the Hospital blanket. Somewhere between taking it off the needles and blocking it, the blanket disappeared. And I forgot all about it…

I pulled out a random box a couple of days ago in search of bobbins for my sewing machine and found it. I love when I find things I didn’t remember losing.

I stretched it, blocked it and finished it finally.

Miles is too long to be swaddled in it but it makes warm, cuddly cover when he’s napping the day away in his bunny bouncer.

Morgan and I have known each other for a few years now, having “met” (in the virtual sense) through the wonderful world that is the internet – we both blogged in our previous lives about single parenthood and life in general. Our stories are similar – she had a baby, she met  the man that the universe intended for her, got married, had another baby (very recently) and is living out her happily ever after.

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It is a Sunday morning and it is quiet. My husband has gone for a workout at the gym and my son, gratified with a belly full of cereal, is playing in his room. It is just I and the Emma in my womb, 2 weeks shy of being born. And it is quiet, not in the way of an empty meadow or a room with no souls, but quiet in my heart with the stillness and peace of happy.

There is the sound of a slow train and our new Tivoli radio playing old jazz. And then the buzz of the microwave  me my coffee in my favorite mug is now reheated. I am in slippers, a Natori bathrobe, and with warm drink in hand I return to the chair by the window where it seems I might just be able to sit and stay for while with my bible, and just be in this perfect kind of quiet—

Or, no.

My babe with the Spidey underwear comes down the stairs in tears.  All is not right in his  5 year old world. His little heart is sad and he comes to his momma for help. I, this little man’s momma, is ready with a hug and already praying she can fix whatever is broke.

A Cars 2 Train is the center of this drama. A piece has dislodged and it is devastating the boy with the blueberry eyes. I tell him to breathe. I breathe and then I surprise us both by actually fixing the toy.  There is a God who comes to our aid.

All is better and he runs back up stairs to tell Finn McMissile he can safely board now the spy train taking him on his next mission.

I stay in my chair by the window, for a moment, Sunday morning light pouring in, Jazz still playing. Coffee is no longer hot but the quiet never left me. I smile, give thanks to the God who never left me either, and stand to return to the microwave. For the third that morning I reheat my mug. This time I reflect on how motherhood is all about the little interruptions that make up a life.

And because of all the interruptions, Motherhood is about falling in deep friendship with your own patient, loving breath so you can be in these interruptions not interrupted. If you can carry even small pockets of peace and stillness with you moment to moment you will never be separated from self, from heart, from the God that guides you and created you mother.

Please, Lord, help me remember this quiet place, where all is not forever perfect– broken moments pierce us and those we love– but all can be made right by gently being with whatever is and by breathing in this place with You.

Morgan Day Cecil is a contributor to Transformed Magazine and is currently working on a guide for single moms on how to create a beautiful life.  She married a man after God’s heart and that man adopted her son. Now the three of them, happy as clams together, are gearing up to welcome the 4th addition to their little family, a baby girl named Emma, due early 2012. They live in Portland, Or. If you want to connect to Morgan, you can find her on Facebook and Twitter. She also spends quiet a bit of time on Pinterest these days.

Next week, I’ve got all kinds of things to that I’ll be blogging about. Recipes. Book reviews. Ramblings born of sleep deprivation. The usual. Right now, my little is sleeping and I’ve got a few projects that are under serious deadlines (as in this Saturday)…

So I’ll leave you with this:

Now that the weather is warming up I’ve got no more excuses. Its time to start stocking up on cute sandals, comfy cardigans, tees and dresses. I like shopping, though, so its not like its going to be a hardship to find and buy new clothes.

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Miles hit the one-month milestone on Tuesday. Sure, I’m a couple days late, but its ok. In the world of newborn rearing things like blog posts and posting schedules don’t matter much.

At one month, Miles is still a little peanut. We hit a few bumps in the road to happy, healthy nursing but things have been smoothed out and he’s packing on those ounces like a champ and I am predicting a record weight gain at his next ped’s checkup.

He seems most content when we are stretched out in bed, chest to chest, during the quiet of night. I find myself starting to love the hours between midnight and sunrise much more than I ever have before. Those are the hours when he is at his most watchful. Taking everything in and trying to make sense of it.

Though he is a calm little boy, there are things that can elicit wails of unhappiness that have us all scrambling to soothe him. Diaper changes, bath time, and not being fed right-this-minute are at the top of Miles’ “Do Not Like” list.

*The felt letters used in the above pictures were made by Chela and I. Our inspiration came from here and here. The quilt was made by me, using Robert Kaufman Robot Factory fabric.

At three weeks, Miles…

has become a master swaddle escape artist.

is not a fan of his car seat.

recently met Nana (his great grandmother, my grandmother)

is finally eating like a champ after a couple of bumpy weeks.

likes to get up and party at 1:00 am.

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one week
two weeks