It has been a long time, I know.....

I just haven't felt a strong enough urge to blog. Life is relatively good yet largely all-consuming. Baby C is growing, though he is still low on the chart for weight. The pediatrician isn't too happy with the 7% percentile, but I keep telling her that Mr. LIW was a naturally skinny person until college. I have considered changing pediatricians because, in all honesty, I don't really like her. She's the type of person that I simply wouldn't be friends with. I feel like she is insecure and plays on my own worries about Baby C. I am going to stick with her in the meantime because her location is incredibly convenient (which is a big deal when you live in Boston), but we are planning to move north of Boston in the next year or so and I will certainly change then. I am trying to schedule appointments so that Mr. LIW can come along because he puts everything into perspective better than I do.

We don't plan to put our house on the market until I find a new job, which I don't expect to be anytime soon given how bad the market is around here. I have a handful of leads but I have played this game before and have learned not to get my hopes up. It's alot like infertility, really. One day something looks promising - the next day hopes are dashed. I am veteran and a little bit jaded at this point. So I am trying to regard job searching as simply another task, like cleaning the house. It works some of the time but it continues to cause me a good amount of stress.

But overall, I am ok. Once I get unemployment (after a week, I STILL can't get through to apply over the phone. The lines are busy!), things will be fine. It seems that I can get 30 weeks of unemployment, which is comforting. Since MR. LIW and I cut back significantly once I got the "you are being laid off" call, and the company paid my maternity leave through the end of 2008, we are fine financially. Unemployment will make it entirely manageable.

Even though there are parts of being home full-time that I don't enjoy, I am surprised to find that I like it over half of the time. It's great to witness every minor and major change in Baby C. I absolutely live for his smile. I love the fact that, most of the time, I only have to catch his eye and smile for him to reciprocate. He's a very vocal baby and is really starting to speak up when we read to him. He's incredibly curious, which makes getting him to nap while with other people or in other places (unless he is being rolled in a carriage) nearly impossible. It doesn't appear that he will ever be a regular long napper during the day - he takes a series of 25- to 30- minute naps throughout the day - but he has been sleeping better at night. As long as I can prevent him from getting overtired, there are few meltdowns.

Parenting is a challenge, for sure. I continue to feel like I am guessing most of the time. But I can't tell you how grateful I am that I waited until my 30's to have a child. I know I am a better mother because of it. And, if I was going to be laid off for a period of time, I couldn't have planned it better. At least I have the best reason in the world to be home. I truly love being a mother. And I love this little man SO much more than I ever thought I could love another person. I would, without a moment's hesitation, give my life for this little guy. He's the best thing that has ever happened to me.

I realize that I haven't added any pics of Baby C. Mr. LIW has the pictures saved in a way that cannot be easily accessed. I need to get him to prepare a couple for me to upload. Stay tuned because I plan to do that very soon.

Love to all of you!!