a post thanksgiving post.

...i wanted to be cool like others, and write about how i was thankful for a million different things prior to thanksgiving. but i didn't get there. pre-roman, i would have been all over it. but momma lindsey is a bit behind, just a couple steps back these days. however, i'm gaining on reality, i'm almost caught up!

however, what i DID do was travel back to nebraska, my home, for 5 whole days........with mr leif and roman, too!

we left tuesday night after mr leif came home from work, and arrived about 1:30am......but don't you worry, i asked mr leif to wake me up as we were going through lincoln......i needed to order my cheesey from amigos. yummity yum yum.

it was such a fabulous time. packed with family and friends and food :)

can you believe i spent 5 days without getting on a computer once. nope. never! and i rarely used my cell phone!! it was a great little tech-cleanse :)

my sissy and her little family came from their new 'home', denver! yep. last minute they made the trek. so happy to have them home too. it makes 'home' complete.

it was the first time in a few YEARS that our whole family, just our immediate family, was home together, and sitting around the table!

just like the good ole days. dad did devotions.

i had seconds on both the main course. AND dessert.

i'm still eating for two, right?!

make that thirds. mr leif fed me his pie too.

snarfin da mashed pataters.

yep. it was the year for plaid. is that how you spell plaid?

lots of laughs. yeah huh. we like to have fun.

and romes was sleepy.

but then he woke up to play.

and so did she. she was playin all over the place! a little crawlin machine.

and then it was time for charlotte to get her hair did.

her momma did it. all up and cute. straight up.

look at romes. aint he a cutie? oh hello little stylin man!?

just chillin with his uncle. whoops! gettin sweeeeeeeeepy.

oh. we did so much more too. but i didn't lug my cam around........

of course though, i had to document our exended family gathering. its da bestest.

here's just 6 of us 30+ cousins. we know how to have some fun.

but anyways. on thanksgiving. and on being thankful....

how about this?

this our grateful hymn of praise. just one of my favorite hymns. from cjane and her crew.....but really, when i heard this i got goosebumps. it says it all.

that mindy gledhill. wow, ey? what a voice.

my favorite verses? here day are.........

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild

but really. me? what am i thankful for?

my husband. my baby. my family. my friends. my church. and maternity leave.

cliche? yah, probably.

snuggles...

...in my fluffly blankets.

when we were home for thanksgiving, i told my mom and sis that roman loves fluffy stuff. and i'm not sure they believed me, at first. however, as the days progressed....they began to see his relationship with fluffy blankets bloom, just as i pronounced to them. as strange as it sounds, this kid is in love. anything fluffly he snuggles way in and nestles his cheeks right up to.

i can give you an example.

just this morning, he was laying on this blanky after his playtime. i left to start unpacking, and just moments later walked back by him....

waaaa laahhh! he is all snuggled up. burrowed in like a little hibernating bunny. (do bunnies hibernate?)

goodness, roman! one must not stuff their face into the blanket! so i made a little clearing for him to breathe...

this one's a cutie. he's a loveable squishable nummy num num.

IT...

...i've got IT now. i can feel IT. i love IT.

before little roman was born, i wrote about IT. i wondered what it would feel like, you know, the love you have for your baby......because i have heard all about it, but just couldn't wait to experience it all on my own.

well, to tell you the truth, i planned on describing my own version of IT weeks ago, but IT really hadn't fully developed yet...it was just in the early stages of development ;)

but within the last 2 weeks, i've just begun to experience IT...and i'm beyond thrilled to declare that each day IT grows.....becomes more intense.....and even more difficult to describe.

...i could nibble him. literally. sometimes when i'm kissing him all over, i could just take a bite.

...when he naps, i get so excited for when he wakes up - i miss him so much during that itty bitty chunk of time.

...when he smiles it makes me feel love drunk. and, i would do absolutely anything crazy or out of control weird to keep him smiling (glad im home alone, no one can judge my loco moves)

...i can miss an entire episode of modern family when he looks at me - because i just gaze right back at him, for minutes upon minutes.......i often look up at the tv and think, oh whoops! i totally missed the whole show! (not to be thought that i sit and watch tv all day...... i wish) oh, and btw.....we did get cable back, we made it without tv for about 2 and a half months......then mr leif couldn't take the lack of college football saturdays, so we found a 'good deal' :) i'm up for cancelling it any time again!

...i don't know where my phone is half the time. this is a big deal people. i mean, i can think back to a time when i would take my phone everywhere, even to the bathroom with me! yep. come on, how DARE i miss a call or a text!?!?!? now? now, i don't care - i'll call whoever it is back later, when i find my phone ;) i'm with my baby and that's all that matters.

ohmygoodness, i could go on and on.........i truly don't know that i could stop giving tangible examples of IT.

i can't wait to experience IT's growth, each day......and YIKES! i can't even imagine the intenseness (is that a word?) of IT when you have more children.......because, yes, mr leif and i are already SO excited to go through this all over again! can't WAIT! *well kinda can wait, but only for a little while.......*

kelle hampton writes about her "THIS IS IT" moments HERE. she's got a bit of a different story, but it's still her IT.

i be up in the gym...

....just workin on my fitness, hooooooweeeeeee!

yes. it's true, roman has really been hittin up the gym lately.

and he loves it.

(it's a playgym, silly?!!)

and when he's workin hard, he even hangs his tongue out.

yes, when he's hittin the gym, it requires true concentration

oh, but sometimes...... he's silly.

like today, i caught him not once,

not twice,

but THREE times, snatchin an animal cracker from me, while was suppsosed to be workin out.... ahhhhh that roman, always a jokester.

oh, but the little goofball didn't stop there, no noooooo.

next, he plopped a little animal right on his face.

yeah, he realized being silly gets the girls, even at the gym......

hey mom, back off........a guy can have a little fun right?!

oh dear.

but anyways, while roman's been pumpin iron up in the playgym, i've been pumping too...although not iron for me.

since day one, i've been pumping for about 5 minutes each time after i nurse.

however, last week i noticed i wasn't quite pumping much out after roman would finish nursing. then i began to freak out. what????? no?????

you see, i've kept up this whole pumping shindig, because 1)i've become a bit addicted to storing all this milk, it's like i've got a little sidebusiness going on or something......... and 2) i'm a bit afraid that after i return to work, i won't be able to keep up

so - while freaking out, i hit up the ole' internet search. "how to get your milk supply up" and "how much should a 5 week old be eating" and "how to keep your milk supply while nursing"........

i realized i need to be drinking more water, eating more often throughout the day, resting, and feeding regularly. it seems as if that was THE magic combo.

alright......i need to go - romes is up for another feeding, and then imma pump. pump. it. up.

you should see my freezer. YIKES!

i love him.

this is my new life.

this is me, a momma.

and this is him, a snuggler :)

and a stroller rider

 he made friends today, with 3 squirrels, collected 4 acorns and 2 leaves, and even nabbed the cute neighbor girl's phone number. just kidding about the squirrels, acorns, leaves...........and the neighbor girl.

i smooch him all day....

ohmygoodness, look at him now, he's workin out in his little gym. better go - i think he needs a spotter.

i now present to you...

yes.........if you are my friend on the ole social network we all know and love....... you've already seen these beauties that are roman's one month pictures. however, i think i've practically been licking the screen everytime i look through them.............so i thought i would plaster them all over my blog as well :)

dear little romyroo......

at one month:
you've just begun to smile.

i frequently (like every 3 minutes) say to you......in my dorky little 'for roman only' voice, "hi roman, its your momma here! it's your momma!" and thennnnnnnnn.......you smile. back at me. and i practically pee my pants each time.

you are tracking objects and movement with your eyes...

so that's my excuse to get up in your face and kiss you a million times....because you can see me now!

you now weigh 10 pounds, 13 ounces........
that's 3 pounds and an ounce more than your birthweight!
bring on mommas milkies! i feed him every chance i get.......let's plump this little lovie UP!
i'm obsessed with every part of you......i could eat your toes.
in a good way. you're nursing well and now eating every 4 hours,
as oppose to the 3 hour rotations you were on for the first 4 weeks of your life.
you went for a 5 hour stretch last night! yep. you ate at midnight and mommy was scared because you were STILL sleeping at 5am.......so i woke you up to feed you. however, the nurse i called to chitchat with today, told me to just pump and let you sleep :)

just today you started making cooing sounds........you squeak a lot.........and you breathe so fast when you get excited!!!! i love it!!!

you're not a huge fan of tummy time........

but you are always trying to look around when i'm holding you........so i know you are strengthening your neck that way :)

bath time is still going great.......

we just fill up the sink and plop you in! you love having the water run on your head. so, of course, we do that a lot, because in all honesty.......what our rome wants, he gets.....(JUST for now anyway)

you just stare into my eyes the whole time you are nursing..... and so i nurse the heck out of you. because it's the best feeling in the world....... so that's what we do every day all day romy, i nurse you and change you and cuddle you and giggle with you.......and LOVE you LOVE you LOVE you....

oh roman joe, your dad and i are completely obsessed with you. just tonight...you were napping in our bed, and we were in the living room. we missed you SO much that we tip toed into the room, crawled into bed...and just stared at you forever. we wanted to nibble your cheekies.

comming soon.........i'll reveal how i now know what IT feels like.

has chipotle always been...

...this good?

seriously.

i mean, i think i've only eaten there twice before last night.

once in college. bad memory, thought it was gross. and way too much food.

and once when i was preggs. with sammy. and, then it was just 'ok'

BUT now, ohhhhhhh now???

now, i'm in love.

especially with the carnitas tacos. yum?????????

last night. we buckled up little rome.

and headed to chipotle, a pick by mr leif, for his 27th birfaday.

romedog loved the excitement. he was soooooo giddy......

and mommy loved her carnitas! (said with my spanish accent, just like tio! - that ones for my sis!)

cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese.

roman, contain yourself. seriously. chipotle is no place for wild animals.

posin with dad. cuz he just turned the big 2-7.

happpppppppppppppppppy birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and seriously. i need some MAJOR rescue 9-1-1 in the kitchen.

i could barely get this white bettiecrocker cake to stack.

silly me didn't wait until it cooled down.

goodness...........i'm always a complete mess in the kitchen.

BUT i'm learning, yes........with every mistake, i'm learning.

and besides. mr leif didn't care that it was totally leaning off to the right.

mr leif 27. me 26. romes 1 month.

all three of us have birthdays within a month!

cheers to another great year ahead..........

and cheers to chipotle.

dangggggggggggggggg it was good.