We were about a week late on Declan's official 4 month picture which seems to be about par for the course for me. I'm not sure how other moms manage to remember to take a picture each month on the same day, I can barely remember to put underwear on. I have a reminder set on my phone for the 12th of every month but even still I manage to get distracted with something and another week flies by. I've been trying to document weekly pictures as well, an idea I stole from a woman I follow on instagram. What a great way to see all the subtle changes over this first year. That is of course, if you can remember to take the pictures. I'm currently at like 10 pictures for the first 18 weeks and I'm considering it a win. You will not see my name on the ballot for mother of the year/pinterest guru and I'm okay with that.
Another thing I'm learning to be okay with? A messy house. Some weeks it probably even qualifies as dirty. Clutter drives my anxiety sky high and I had a really rough week a little while back which left me feeling completely overwhelmed. But I'm trying to make peace with it. Every time I see a pile of stuff sitting around or dust bunnies hanging out (they aren't hiding, that's for sure), I remind myself that I'd rather be playing with Declan or Garrett than cleaning. So we're getting by doing the bare minimum and catching up on weekends when naps and schedules allow. There's a saying I see all over the place that says something along the lines of my house is a mess but my kids are happy and that's the sentiment I'm running with for now.
4 months is bringing lots of fun stuff: grasping for toys, more babbling, lots of smiles and an overall alertness that has been fun to watch. It's also brought a string of colds and our first trip to the emergency room. Last week Declan woke up around 10:30 having some really nasty coughs which eventually lead to being so congested his breathing was pretty labored. So we rushed to the emergency room to get him checked out. Now of course, his breathing had returned to normal and he was laughing and smiling for the nurses but I think Mike and I were both just glad to have the scary breathing issues behind us. He spent a few nights sleeping in his car seat to help with the drainage and we're hoping to be on the way over this particular cold. He has really been a trooper about it all with lots of smiles between the coughing and plenty of cuddles.
