Five on Friday- Duke is 4 months old!

Does anyone else find motherhood to be so confusing!?  One minute I'm looking at my sweet little nugget baby and I can't believe he's already been in our lives for 4 months and the next I'm staring at his ridiculously cute gummy grin and wiggly/excited/hi-mama dance and I wonder what our lives ever were without him.  HOW has he only been here for 4 months and completely turned our world upside down {in the best possible way}?  For this week's Five on Friday, I'm talking about 5 things that made Duke's 4th month one to remember.

one- Boy's got skills
I am consistently amazed as I watch Duke master new skills and he is always reminding me to just be patient because he reaches his milestones at his own pace.  He is constantly grabbing at everything {I may never wear my hair down again} and bringing any object he can grasp up to his little slobbery mouth.  This month Duke grabbed and pulled down on some plastic bananas in his bouncy seat.  I know that sounds insane, but the bouncy seat was a hand-me-down from my sister and she distinctly remembered how exciting it was when my nieces mastered this skill so it was really fun to see Duke do it for the first time on his 4 month birthday.  He also seems to be making some motions that will lead to a back to front rollover in the near future...

Mastering the Bumpo seat!

two- Teeth
This month was a month of 2 bottom teeth breaking through at the same time.  It was a month of really great sleep {knocking on all the wood as I'm sure we're approaching the 4-month sleep regression} and it was a month of solidifying my boy's status as a full-blown mama's boy.  I attribute a lot of his clingy-ness this month to teething, but it's no surprise that I spend each and every day with my boy and he feels most comfortable snuggled up with me {don't mind if I do}.

three- Bless this little boy
This month involved Duke's baptism.  An overly stressful day for me in which Duke decided to scream bloody murder longer than I think I've ever seen him scream.  He was so easily irritated that day and it broke my heart when even I had a hard time consoling him.  Moving on...

four- Fish Baby
This month brought the exciting event of Duke's first swim!  He was so cute in the pool with his daddy, kicking his sweet little chubba wubba legs and wondering what the heck was going on.  I really hope he loves the water and look forward to more swimming opportunities this summer.

I LOVE his face in this picture.

five- Home sweet home
Each month with our boy is better than the last and I am thanking my lucky stars that I get to be home with him right now.  Everything truly does happen for a reason and God's plan was far superior to mine.  Happy 4-month birthday my sweet boy!  Thank you for snuggling your mama the past few days...hopefully this sickness is on it's way out!

Any day now this is going to be a full rollover!

Until next time...

-T-

Why would anyone move to South Dakota?

This has got to be the #1 question I get when we tell people we are moving to South Dakota this summer.  SO this post is dedicated to all of the haters curious folks out there...here are the top 5 reasons we decided to move to South Dakota!  

note:  blogger is being a pain in rear for me today and I'm on day 2 of a horrible sickness (i.e. low on patience) so there aren't a whole lot of pictures in this post.

#1- Family-  We are so lucky to be surrounded by D's family and one of my sisters here in Colorado and it is awesome. However, ever since I got pregnant with Duke, I have felt a pull to be closer to my parents and the small town I grew up in.  My oldest sister as well as many of my cousins on my dad's side have moved back and are raising their families in Vermillion as well, and I cannot wait for Duke to grow up in a small community surrounded by family.

#2- Opportunity- Growing up in SD, I had the opportunity to be in just about any activity I could imagine.  I was a cheerleader, played basketball/volleyball/softball, danced on the Dance Team, played in the band, was president of the student council, etc.  Small towns really can mean BIG opportunity if you take advantage of what's out there.  We will have the opportunity to let Duke try out a bunch of different activities and participate in just about anything he can think of without having to take out a second and third mortgage on our future home. Yes, it will still cost money, but not nearly as much as it would here in Colorado, PLUS, it's not as insanely competitive.

 

#3- Small Town Livin-  Think no traffic, 5 minute commutes, and really friendly people who wave at you whether they know you or not.  I love the familiarity of my hometown and how comfortable I feel there. Dennis and I have talked a lot about wanting to travel more around the U.S. {and beyond} and we both agree that while we can't wait to get out and experience awesome cities across the country, we don't want to raise our kids in one right now.

#4- Dirt- As in, a place to plant some roots, a place to build/buy a home.  Sure there's dirt in CO, but it's really, really expensive dirt.  We cannot wait to have the opportunity to buy our own home to raise our family in. And until that happens, we can rent a house with a yard from a super awesome landlord {aka my dad} paying 1/2 of what we do in CO for an apartment.

#5- Affordability-  We aren't pulling in 6 figures, but we make a good living {at least we did when I was working} and it seems like we can never get ahead here.  It's incredibly frustrating and we can't help but feel defeated.  Yes, cost of living is lower so wages are typically lower, but we both agree we will be able to afford life in SD instead of just affording bills here in the mountain state.

The closer we get to our big move, the more excited D and I get.  And after saying goodbye to our visitors last weekend, this move cannot come soon enough.  We will miss so many people here but will always be back to visit.  Dennis' parents living here means guaranteed visits back on a regular basis.  If all else fails and SD isn't the place for us, I'd love to test out life in the south. ;)

Until next time...

-T-