Have baby will travel...

I'm not really sure where the time goes...it just does. Go, that is.

We are slowly returning to our hectic everyday here in KC after a Christmas break filled with snowed-in days in OKC and a New Year's weekend at Beaver Lake. It was great to see as much of our families as we could considering the weather, but it has been equally as wonderful to be home, despite the weather.

In the last few weeks we have gotten more snow than we really know what to do with and currently the temperatures are bitterly cold with wind chills around 30 below. Ridiculous. It's so cold the old snow has stuck around and the new snow just piles on top. I've never looked so forward to Spring in my life.

Jackson is 7 months old and exploring his world the best way he knows how....by putting whatever his little hands can grab directly into his mouth. He is, seriously, the happiest little guy and bounces back from illness and sleepless nights with ease. He slept a solid 12 hours last night. I woke up at 3 am wondering if he had just decided to move out and not tell us.

His daycare teachers are amazing and they genuinely look forward to seeing him in the morning. Honestly, I think he likes them just as much. Presently he is the second oldest baby in his class - or what Miss Dorothy calls the Infant Senior Citizen. I look at the newest babies in the room and marvel at how tiny and sleepy they are. And then I remember - Jackson was that way once too! I am amazed at how 7 months of time seems so insignificant in the grand scheme, but feels like a lifetime to a new Mommy. So much has changed in that 7 month blip.

Jackson's first Christmas was a great one except for all the snow. Our Christmas Eve tradition at Granny and Poppy's had to be postponed and we never did make it out to Poppy Bob's in Blanchard on Christmas Day. Too much snow and poor travel conditions required us to hunker down at the Buddha Belly Farm. This allowed for snowman making, naps and eating. Lots of eating.

Our New Years was spent at Beaver Lake in Arkansas at Robbie's Aunt's and Uncle's lake house. It is a beautiful place and it was so nice for Jackson to finally meet his Great-Great Aunt Lonni, Great-Great Uncle Mark and Cousin TJ. It was a lot of traveling, but Jack did great. I actually think all the traveling was harder on me than him!

Between the holidays, weather, work and crawling into bed around 8:30 pm (if I'm lucky) there are plenty of people I miss seeing on a regular basis. It's hard to explain, but I feel a bit isolated and dictated by Jackson's schedule. I don't mind it so much, but I do feel I have neglected a few people who are important to me. I figure this is another one of those adjustment periods and recognize the time will pass and things will change again. It's the Not Beating Myself Up over it that's tough.

And so, life goes on and on. I have become a horrible life scribe for my son and I think I can be okay with this. I love spending time with him and Robbie and I send each other emails throughout the day sometimes with only the words, "I miss Jack!" Our focus is clear when it comes to our child and cloudy when it comes to everything else. For now, this will just have to be the way it is. Sometimes it feels like Survival Mode, but mostly it just feels like Family Time.

I do have to say though, I miss those impromptu cups of coffee at Latte Land on the Plaza.