Friday, August 27, 2010

Little Spurt

My little man has been going through some kind of crazy growth spurt. Not only is he waking up frequently again, but he seems to need to eat all evening long again. So, it seemed as though it were time to introduce the "solid" food. I cooked up some rice and pureed it with milk for him and he seemed to be a big fan. He's still learning the technique of swallowing, but has got the baby bird mouth trick down pat.  He's had his rice cereal as well as some oatmeal-fruit puree and last night even tried a bit of avocado. It took a bit more tongue work, but he gobbled a good bit up.


Now, let's just get him back to better sleeping again. Sheesh, Mama is tired. 

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Things I Love Thursday: Baby Books

I am not a scrapbooker. I don't like the little knicky-knacks or the fancy clippings or the matchy matchy. Maybe I just don't have the creative brain power for it. Let me apologize to those of you who are die hard fans, but my preferred method of photo storage is a blurb photo book. I put together a fabulous book for Randall's first year and have the next book progressing for maybe a 2nd through 5th compilation.


I love, love, love photos. I love flipping back through them a hundred times and remembering just how I felt, just what I thought and just where I was when I first took the  picture.

The irony of it is, I really love baby books and they are pretty much the original scrapbook, are they not?  I loved working on Randi's book and I am continuing to add in her birthdays and first times.

What I need to admit here is not that I am a half-scrap-booker, but that I have been a bit of an overachiever.

I have most of Emmett's book done as well. Now, I realize that he hasn't had a whole lot of firsts yet, but that's what is so great about the books I have. There are a bunch of pages to put their "history." After I had Randi, I picked hers up at Babies R Us partially because of the cute footprint option and partially because I just loved that you could take the pages out and either rearrange some, or even discard some if you weren't going to use them. There is a page for their family trees, info about their parents and then all of their firsts and such. There are also a few pages with pockets to put the id bracelets, doctor's notes or other memorabilia. I'm going to have to get some tiny envelopes to stick in there when it comes time for the first hair cut. The last page in each of their books is a letter from Mama to them. I haven't written Em's yet, but for me this is a great spot to write my prayer for their lives.

I actually really love all the spots to put those knick-knacks. When Em reaches some sort of milestone, I have been writing it on my calendar to input later. Because, while I am currently ahead with this whole memory-keeping thing, I know it won't last. There are enough other projects screaming at me around the house at the moment that I'll be lucky to get one or two of them done.

Have you filled out your kids' baby books? What kind did you use and why did you (or didn't you) like them?

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Remembering Again

I've been married four times. For nine years.

Four times I've had the question, "Do you take this man?" asked of me. It was simple and classic, it was beautiful and fancy, it was quick and functional, and it was casual and friendly.

My family is all in another state, and my mother wasn't able to travel, especially not for a whole weekend. I wanted her to be at my wedding. But I also wanted to have a big fancy wedding and invite all my friends locally. And I couldn't do both. Could I? And if I did, would I remember to do everything I was supposed to do?

Two wedding dresses & two veils. One my mother's, one my own.














Twice standing at an altar reciting vows and receiving rings. Three pastors, two ceremonies, two rituals.














Twice we sat at a table with three friends and repeated a quick set of the same.

Twice we had huge meals with many family members and tons of friends to help us celebrate.









Once we had a normal meal with a few friends who joked and smirked and winked.

Three times we cut the cake.

Only once did I smear it.










Once we jammed and danced all night long.
















Once we forgot our marriage license. And once we filled it out incorrectly. Twice we had one notarized.
But now it will be nine times that we have celebrated our marriage. Nine years that have passed since we laughed over forgetting so many things. Nine years since we first were man and wife. Nine years since we were second man and wife. There are still a few more months until our third and fourth 9th anniversaries.

Am I wiser, truer, braver? Have I grown stronger, tougher, more faithful? Am I cuter, sweeter, more giving? I hope so.

He's more honest, more willing, more open. He became more handsome, more serving, more thoughtful. He does more than I ask, gives more than I deserve, provides all I need.

I never have more fun with anyone. I always trust his judgement. He never treats me badly. He always puts me first. We never doubt the future. We always embrace the present.

I love you, my sweet. My George, my pooh bear, my snookie-wookums. My tall, handsome hero. My rock star. I adore you, I treasure you, I respect you, I believe in you, I love you.

Nine more years will pass us by too quickly. Sometimes I wish we could stay in today forever.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Month Four


Hey there little fella! You have absolutely turned the corner this month. You happily tolerate the car seat, even when we're just out and about. I can't tell you how much easier this is on your Mama. You love your play mat and your little toys. You love standing up and stretching your little leg muscles, all the while wobbling about on unsteady tree-trunk legs.


You are still swaddled for your nap and for nighttime. Though right now, you are being too sweet. You woke up half way through your nap and every time I try to put your paci back in to help you fall back to sleep, you just grin happily at me. "Nah, Mama, I wanna play!" I know better though, and back to sleep you will go. You regularly will sleep a good 2 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon, sometimes with a wake up in the middle and sometimes straight through. You don't really have a long nap in the morning, just one or two cat naps.


You've started going to bed around 7:30 or 8 at night the past couple weeks. I generally feed you again about 11 or 12 before I go to bed and you'll sleep until about 6:30 or 7:30, wake up for a snack and get up for the day at 8 or 9. I'm hoping your four month sleep regression was the rough patch we had last week when Grammy and Papa were here. That or they were sneaking you candy so they could snuggle you in the middle of the night. Hard to say for sure. You are awfully snuggly.


Some days you are just too yummy and I could literally gobble you right up. Your pinch-able cheeks and your little ears that stick right out--sorry about that kid, that's my fault--are just too delicious. You love to giggle when I kiss those cheeks. Or when I smile at you, or raspberry your belly, or tickle your little pits. You are such a happy man. Life is good for you.


What is it for babies that throws the switch from horribly colicky to happy and sweet? Is it just getting used to the outside world? Is it getting that digestive system properly figured out? Whatever it is, I'm glad that you've crossed over from the dark side.


You're still on the twice-a-week-or-so pooping schedule. Some days it will be a couple times that day and then you could go a whole week with just wet ones.

I finally got all of your clothing organized and sorted into bins. You were lovingly blessed with a ton of great hand-me-downs from a friend with every size imaginable and I don't think I'll have to buy you anything new until next summer! Of course, I'm probably going to make you a few more Baby Tie Shirts. Is there anything cuter on a little boy than a teeny tie? I think not.


You, my sweet, yummy, happy, chubby little man are fantastic. I can't get enough of your smiles and giggles and coos and goofy little noises. You have been so healthy, growing so chunky and just generally being the best little baby every. May you have a sweet and lovable spirit all your life! I love you, my little munchkin. Here's to your first month on the new couch!

Things I Love Thursday: New Furniture!

I have strongly disliked my couch for a long time now. (I would say "hate", but a friend recently informed me that would mean I want the couch to be dead and it seems a bit dramatic for an inanimate object) The couch and love seat were the first pieces of furniture my husband and I bought for our first apartment. They weren't unattractive or horribly uncomfortable, but they weren't really "me," either. Most of my furniture is dark wood and if not antique, at the least, it is early to mid-1900s. The couch, on the other hand, was a very basic plaid and I was forced to coordinate everything else around it.

Suffice it to say, I have been keeping my eyes open for something new and different for a while. At the same time, I haven't been too hopeful because we haven't really had the money for a fancy new couch either.

Enter the highway fix. Yes, for most of the spring and summer we have been lamenting the aggravation of extra drive time while the highway has been closed. It has been quite the irritation, having added a good bit of time for us to go practically anywhere. Because of this, we have often driven through downtown. In itself, this isn't a bad thing as we love downtown and seeing the shops and people about. It can just become tedious when we know it could be so much shorter of a drive.

Last Thursday was such a day. After a morning food testing with my girlie, we were ushered off the highway at an earlier exit close than usual and directed through downtown. Therefore, I drove through one of my favorite areas and past the antique shops.

When I saw it I practically slammed on the brakes. Quickly turning around and snagging a perfect parking spot, I jumped out and examined the goods. "The perfect couch" was in immaculate condition and listed at a very reasonable price. I snapped a picture with my cell and immediately sent it off to my hubby.

Unfortunately, I got a "no" in return. Ok, not exactly a no, more like a, "if you can sell enough stuff to buy it, then fine."

That sounds like a challenge to me!

Friday I was in the area again for a brunch meeting and thought I would stop by to see if the couch was still there and if they would go down on their price. I got a double yes on that. Perfect, I'll take it!

The previous week we had been given a bedroom set for our son which included a solid wood twin bed, mattress, large hutch desk and two locker-type dressers. Him still being an infant, the only thing I could currently use in his room was the lockers. The desk could be put in the spare room but the bed would need to be sold as I didn't even have anywhere to store it!

When I got home on Friday, I went crazy on Craigslist. I also announced that we would be having a garage sale the next day.

As of today, I have sold $32 more than I purchased the couch for and folks are still calling me on a few of my items.

It's perfect and it makes me smile this week. I love it.