It's off to work I go...

...and other random updates

Tonight my maternity leave comes to an end. Tomorrow I go back to work. Auntie Katie is here and will be babysitting. Starting Monday my mom will babysit for two months and then he'll start daycare in April. I'm sad to have to leave him, but I haven't cried yet. I know he'll be in good hands. When I'm having conversations with adults, I'll be missing cooing along with my little man. I know what I'll be looking forward to tomorrow -- getting off work to go home and snuggle with Owen!!

Owen is now 12 weeks old! He sleeps in his own crib and is great about falling asleep on his own. He generally sleeps 5 or 6 hours and then a couple of 3 hour stretches. He loves talking. He's rolled over from tummy to back a couple of times. He likes to clasp his hands together. He's just about in size 3-6 month now. And tonight he started wearing size 2 diapers. He is more fun every day.

Last weekend we went to Duluth to visit friends. Owen got to play with Vivian and Jameson who are almost 1 year old now. It's so fun that we have friends with kids close to Owen's age. I know it'll be a lot more fun when they actually play together and get into trouble.

This week Auntie Katie is visiting us. She's getting some snuggle time -- and of course, she'll get lots of time with him tomorrow.

And it turns out that Owen was the second most popular name in Minnesota in 2010. Of course! But even knowing that now, I wouldn't change my boy's name. His mama's name is Jennifer (most popular name the year I was born), so it fits that Owen's name is popular now too.

J.B.

Baptism Day

Dave and I grew up in different religious denominations. He is Catholic while I'm Presbyterian. Our faith has always been important to both of us and even before we got married we had discussed how we wanted to teach Owen about God and help him develop his own faith. Neither one of us wanted to give up our faith tradition, and we decided that neither one of us had to do that. One of the things we decided was important was that we're all in this together. Whether we're at a Catholic church, a Presbyterian church or any other church, what matters to us is that it is an experience we're sharing as a family. Another thing we decided that was important was recognizing that faith is more than just practicing a denomination's religious practices. Although we will teach Owen about both of our religious traditions, what is most important that Owen knows that Jesus loves him, that he has the opportunity to develop his own faith in God, and that is accepting of all people -- regardless of their faith. A third thing we decided was important is the faith community. We want Owen to know that the people in his faith community love him and support him. We want people at church to know his name and for Owen to have peers that he'll grow up with to learn about Jesus (and have a little fun together too). All the talk over the years about what we wanted was good, and now it's finally time to start putting our thoughts into action.

Yesterday was Owen's baptism. I didn't truly realize how much his baptism would mean to me until it happened. Our pastor did a great job of making the whole church service special for Owen. He didn't cry during the baptism -- he actually smiled as the water was put upon his head. His is loved by his family, his faith community and of course, by God. May Owen always know the love and support we have for him.

J.B.

Time is going too fast

Owen is 10 weeks old now....and that means there are only two weeks left of my maternity leave. I have loved every minute being home with my little boy. I just wish I could stop time right now so I could stay home with him a little longer. This week the realization that my days of spending every single minute of every single day caring for my little man hit with full force as we had to make a the biggest decision in Owen's life thus far --  where to send him to daycare.

On Wednesday Owen and I were going to back to visit one of our potential choices and she called me to say she filled her spot. I freaked out because that meant I only had one person to choose from. I just didn't want to choose someone because they were my only option. So I spent the whole day searching for in-home daycares and then not getting any results, I started calling daycare centers too, even though I knew it would be unlikely we'd send Owen to one. Between voicemails and emails, I reached out to more than 25 places that all supposedly had infant openings...20 of which were phone calls. I got like three more potential leads although I found out that basically all daycare centers have openings. It's difficult with a capital D to find infant openings in a family daycare setting.

Sending your child to daycare is difficult. We're not even there yet. But we did make the decision today on where Owen will be going. And after looking at many different options, I'm satisfied with the choice we made. He'll be spending his days with a woman named Jenny. Not this Jenny though. I wish I could stay home with him, but it's just not a possibility right now. Maybe it's something I could do in a couple of years after we have another child. It's definitely something I would like to do. I've known all along that Owen would have to go to daycare. I think he'll like it. The separation at first is going to be harder on me than it is on him. But I'll make it through...and at the end of the day my boy is coming home with me. I know I'll be looking forward to the end of the workday more than ever.

J.B.