Guess Who's Back

After a long summer vacation from blogging, I have decided to return. I didn't want to let my blog slip forever into internet oblivion. So I am going to try to pull it back up before it's too late. I don't really have any reason for my long absence, I think I just suck at blogging. The summer was busy, and hectic. I have a very mobile baby, and a line of people always waiting to use my computer. At first I would compile blog posts in my head (usually while enjoying the tranquil escape that is my shower) then I would just never get around to writing them. After awhile I stopped even thinking about them altogether. I'm sure at some point even my own mom quit checking in here. So hopfully my two or three readers are still out there somewhere, and maybe even missed me? I will be back to post a summer recap soon.

Favorites

Nathan has tried just about every food now. I must say sweet potatoes are his favorite. Actually I'm pretty sure paper is his favorite. He loves to get his hands on it crumple it up, and take a big ole bite. Yummy!! Any paper will do he's not picky. Magazines, fliers, newspapers, but I guess since paper isn't technically a food we will go back to the sweet potatoes. How do I know they are his favorite? The proof is in the picture. You may think he looks like this after every meal, but that simply is not true. He consumes his sweet potatoes so excitedly that this is the result.

Another favorite...Shadow. Any fears I had that these two wouldn't end up as BFF's has been put to rest. As I have mentioned before Shadow is an...er interesting dog, but these two get along famously.

Now for some of my favorites. This adorable baby face.

This sleeping boy. He wasn't feeling well this day, and just crashed while playing. He never does that so I had to get a picture. I love sleeping babies, and am kind of obsessed with taking pictures of them. I have dozens of pictures of my kids sleeping when they were babies. Maybe someday I will post some.

And what's not to love about this last set of pictures? First of all, the shirt. I found it at a consignment sale last month, and I just love it so much. It was the most expensive thing I bought. My favorite babylegs, with my favorite baby toes, and of course my favorite baby grin. ,

Weekend Rewind

I realize I am posting this a bit late, but we had so much going on this weekend I wanted to make sure I blogged about it. Plus I got all of these great pictures I wanted to share.

Saturday morning I had a hair appointment early. I told the girls when I got back we would go to Old Navy. They were having their $1 flip flop sale. We got there around noon, and went inside. There was not a single.frikin.flip.flop.in.the.store!! I mean usually they have a HUGE wall full of flip flops!! Not only that, but the line went all of the way to the back of the store. This may seem like a great deal, but Old Navy flip flops are usually $2.50 so it's not exactly the sale of the century or anything. If we decide to go next year we will be standing outside before they open. I didn't realize cheap flip flops could create such insanity.

Saturday evening we went and saw Night At The Museum 2 in Imax. It was good, and Nathan was surprisingly well behaved. Then after dinner we played some Rock Band.

Sunday we met my mom, and Steve at the park for a picnic. We ate fried chicken, and coleslaw. The kids played in the water. The weather was so nice, and we had a great time. Monday I had to work since I started my new schedule this week. Brandon has made friends with the kids down the street. He has been going over there to play. We kept asking him what their names were, and he kept saying he didn't know. Well this weekend Lindsey made friends with their older sister, and she found out the names for him. She said he had just been calling them "dudes" all this time.

Here are some pictures from the park on Sunday.

My mom, and Nathan. Isn't this cute?

Kailyn practicing being a photographer.

My big kids. So rare to get a picture of all of them.

The girls.

Lindsey

Nathan enjoying some watermelon in his mesh feeder.

Then And Now

I have been on a blogging roll this week, and I don't want to mess it up. I thought I would post a quick then and now for fun.

Shadow and Nathan November 08


Shadow and Nathan now.



Lindsey and Nathan Oct 08



Lindsey and Nathan now.

30 Day Shred

I bought this workout a few weeks after Nathan was born, and it had just been sitting around the house. I started seeing it talked about more and more on the internet, and decided I should give it a try. It is a 20 minute workout with 3 levels. You are supposed to do it 30 days in a row no breaks. Each level for 10 days. If you decide to try it I would really encourage you to NOT take days off. I think that was key for me. This is a serious butt kicking workout, and it works!! When I started on day one I thought doing 30 seconds of jumping jacks was hard. By day 30 I was doing 30 seconds of jumping jacks with weights like it was nothing. I updated this post everyday while doing the workout so you can see how it worked for me.

I also added pictures. I didn't take a picture until day 10. It was really hard for me to share these pictures, because I feel like I still have so far to go. I do know that you can see a difference though, and that is what is important. So even if one person feels inspired by my photos then it would be worth my embarrassment.

I would highly recommend this workout to anyone who wants to get in shape, and see quick results. You will thank me in 30 days. Dare and I are starting over on level 1 tonight!!

Day 1- Wasn't as hard as I thought I made it through no problem.
Day 2- My arms are a little sore today. Workout went ok.
Day 3- Today my arms and legs are a little sore. It was hard today. Even the chest flys which I normally think are the easiest seemed difficult.
Day 4-It was easier than yesterday. I'm not sore anymore.
Day 5- Dare worked out with me again today. I wish I could say it's getting easier, but it isn't.
Day 6- This workout is hard. I'm not going to lie.
Day 7- I was able to push myself just a little.
Day 8- My legs were a bit sore from pushing myself yesterday. Dare and I agreed that circuit one is the hardest.
Day 9- Dare didn't workout with me today. I did it by myself. I told him I feel less jiggly now when I do all of the jumping exercises.
Day 10- I am scared tomorrow we start level 2!!
Day 11- I knew it was going to be hard when during the warm up Dare said "This is the f-n warm up?" There were places I had to stop for a second. My arms feel shaky now.
Day 12- The 3rd circuit is killer. My shoulders are on fire, and sore from yesterday.
Day 13- I have started to strangely look forward to doing this workout.
Day 14- I couldn't help but admire my newly acquired biceps today.
Day 15- I was on my own today, but I still managed to get it done. It might be getting just a tad easier. Oh, and I can't believe I'm half way!!
Day 16- I'm feeling like I have a lot more energy now. This is working.
Day 17- I feel so much stronger than when I first started, but this workout is still so tough.
Day 18- After overindulging for my b-day yesterday I can't even tell you how much I wanted to blow this off today. I didn't though. Day 18 done!!
Day 19-I'm so scared to start level 3 tomorrow.
Day 20- Ummm, that was so hard. There may have even been some cursing involved.
Day 21- I'm a bit sore from yesterday in random places. Like my forearms!!
Day 22- Dare and I agree circuit 3 is the hardest.
Day 23- I have yet to make it through level 3 without having to pause for a second in two places. Day 24- I missed today so disappointed.
Day 25-When does this level get easier?
Day 26-This level has more core work than the other two. Not fun, but necessary.
Day 27-Today I made it through the whole workout without pausing. Go me!!
Day 28- Hate doing the workout. Love how good I feel afterwards.
Day 29-I hate planks!!
Day 30-Almost done.
Day 31-I did it. I feel so badass!!

Day 10

Day 30

Day 10

Day 30

Changes

Not a lot of changes, but some pretty major ones anyway. Have you ever had a moment when you realized you couldn't live another day with something the way it was? Well I did, and that something was my hair. The desire came so suddenly that there was no stopping it. I was on a mission for change. Sunday morning I headed off to the salon looking like this




and came home looking like this




You'll have to excuse the dumb look on my face. I was trying very hard to get a picture without the camera in front of my face. I'm still working on perfecting that technique.


The other change came just as unexpectedly. When I went back to work at the end of January I went back 4 days a week. I get up at 2am most days to go to work, and my days off are Sun, Mon, and Wed. I don't enjoy my job, and I enjoy that schedule even less. The opportunity came up for me to take a position with less stress, and less hours at work. I talked to my boss, and I start next week. Now I get to sleep until 4am, and I work Mon-Wed.

I'm a little nervous about working less. Since I am the money spender in the house I promised my husband I would cut out my daily trips to Starbucks. I will now only go on the days I work. I also said I would stop all of the emergency phone calls to him at work asking him to bring home dinner, because I'm too tired to cook. Really though, we are both extremely happy about this. I will get to be home all weekend for the first time in four years. I'm not sure what exactly I'm going to do with all of my newly acquired free time, but I'm sure this busy little guy will help to fill up the days.

7 Months Old

A few things about Nathan at 7 months

- He hates to have things pulled over his head when being changed. Absolutely hates it.

- He is scared of the vacumm, and always cries when I use it. When the dog barks (very loudly) he thinks it's the funniest thing ever. Go figure.

- In the last 3 days his two bottom teeth have come in. He was a bit fussier, but not much.

- He likes to stick his tongue over his bottom lip.

I was also going to say he has started to show interest in pulling up on furniture, but then while we were doing our photo shoot he did this.





I guess it's time to lower the crib mattress.

I've Become One Of Those People

One of those people who doesn't update their blog. Don't you find those people incredible annoying? So do I. That's why I can't believe I've become one of them. I logged on to do Nathan's 7 month update to find I've only done 3 posts in the last month. That is just unacceptable. I would promise to be better, but then it would even worse when I failed to live up to that promise. So I won't do it. I will try to make up for my slacking by leaving you with these.

Memos From Mommy

One of my favorite blogs is hosting a weekly contest. This was my entry for the week. I thought I would share since I had these cute pictures.


Dear Nathan-

Why is it that you save your best smiles, and cutest giggles for the dog? What has he ever done for you but chew your toys, and growl at you? I am the one who feeds you and changes your diapers. I think I deserve some love too. Thanks!!

Love,
Mommy

6 Month Stats

Better late than never here are Nathan's 6 month stats.


Weight- 18lbs 2oz (50-75 percentile)



Height- 27 1/4 in (75th percentile)



Head Circumference- 45 cm (75th percentile)



He has actually dropped in percentile a bit since his 4 month check. He was in the 95-100% in everything. I was actually surprised he wasn't 20 lbs already.

The Dr made a comment on how good, and happy he is. That he seems like such an easy baby. She said she always hopes people with easy babies have difficult teenagers. Ummm ok. What a dumb thing to say. Like I'm sure he will just stay this content, and happy until he hits age 13 or so. We will probably sail through the terrible twos I'm sure. For that comment I made sure to point out that wasn't an easy newborn. In fact I couldn't put him down for the first 3 months of his life. So maybe I kinda feel like I deserve this happy baby for as long as he wants to stay that way.

6 Months Old

Six months today. A whole half a year. It's hard to believe.

Nathans latest talents include:

- Sitting up. Yep he can sit up all by himself. Quite well.



- Crawling. Not the traditional crawl, but more of a scoot. He move all of the place. Lucky for us he is still a little slow. I'm sure this won't last for much longer.



- Screaming. He doesn't do this much, but he sure is proud of how loud he can get.



- Blowing raspberries. He actually started doing this awhile ago, but he has taken a renewed interest in it. Especially now that he can spit when he does it.



Just for proof that he does smile here is one more picture from our 6 month photo shoot.

Happy Easter!!

I really just wanted to show off this super cute picture of Nathan.

A Spoon, A Bib, And An Avocado

Put those three things together, and you have Nathans first meal. He seemed very indifferent about the food itself, but seemed to enjoy the process. Lindsey fed him, and I think he got most of the food on his face and bid. We will now move full speed ahead with the solids. On the menu for this week are apples, and peas. Bon Appetite.

It's Official, I'm A Twit-ter

So a year ago when my husband started using this service I gave him a ton of crap. I made fun of him for weeks. I knew Twitter had become super popular, you hear about it everywhere now. I still wasn't really interested in joining. Peer pressure got the best of me though, and I joined yesterday at the urging of my sister. I figured if she was doing it so could I. It's not like she's on the cutting edge of internet trends.

So if you are disappointed with my lack of blog updates lately (mom). You can keep up with my tweets on the sidebar. If you are on twitter you can come follow me.

I guess I must add that I'm not super impressed with the service itself. I am constantly getting an "twitter is too busy" message. I spent 30 precious minutes of Nathans nap trying to add a profile picture. After many frustrating attempts it was finally showing up. Now it has been replaced by the good ole red x. It isn't showing who I'm following correctly. Oh, and it won't let me set up text message updates. But, whatev. It's a free internet service. It doesn't actually need to work. Besides I'm one of the cool kids now.

My Baby Is Better Than Your Baby

Brandon decided he likes his little brother so much that he needed his own baby. He went and got one of Gabby's reject dolls from her closet and dressed it in some of Nathan's clothes. He played with the doll for awhile, and then we had a conversation that went like this.

B- "Mommy, when I lay my baby down he goes right to sleep"

Me- "Wow B you're lucky. My baby doesn't do that."

B- "That's because your baby doesn't have fake eyes."

Me- "Good point B. Very good point."

B- "Mommy"

Me- "Yes B"

B- "My baby never cries."

Me- "Ok B that's enough. You need to stop bragging about your baby."

Had To Share

I came across this on the internets today. It's rare I find something worth sharing, but I thought this was good.

5 Months Old

My baby is 5 months old today. Where has the time gone? He is getting so big, and cute. He has changed so much the last month.



-He still isn't sleeping through the night, but he has been great about taking naps. In his crib!!

-He has gotten quite proficient at rolling, and can now move all over the place.

-He has warmed up to the camera a little. I've been able to get a few pictures of him smiling lately.

-He is pretty happy, and smiley most of the time. He loves when people talk to him.

-Gabby gave him his very first bottle of formula this weekend. I was happy I was able to make it to this point without supplementing. I wasn't able to pump enough milk for my trip, and I wanted to see how he would take the formula before I left. He took it like a champ. The boy isn't picky about his food.

Vegas, Baby!!

We are going to Vegas next week. I have been in denial about this trip, because I just don't feel ready to leave my baby. Since this is a work trip for my husband we planned it months ago, before Nathan was even born. It's hard to turn down a trip that is 75% free. Especially when it's to your favorite place. I *think* this will be trip number 8 in 4 1/2 years.

I also found out that my friend/hairstylist (her husband works for the same company) is going too. So this week I finally started to get excited. We talked about what we would do all day while our husbands are working, and have even planned some crazy Vegas hair-jinx.

I am still nervous about leaving my baby, but it's only for 2 days. I know he will be in good hands. So I am going to go, and have fun. I promise to only call to check on him twice a day.

A Few Recent Pictures

I realize I haven't been blogging much lately. I guess I've had a little bit of bloggers block. I always think about things I want to blog about, but then can't find the motivation to actually do it. Hopefully March will be a better month.

Here are a couple of pictures from this weekend. We walked down to the park, and enjoyed the semi warm weather. I've mentioned I have a hard time getting Nathan to smile for the camera as you can see from these looks that hasn't changed. My husband seems to have an even harder time than me. I had him take like 20 pictures of me with Nathan and he's not even looking at the camera in any of them. Oh well, he's still cute right?

4 Month Stats

Nathan had his 4 month appointment today. It was supposed to be two weeks ago, but the Dr office cancelled again. Anyway everything went good. He didn't like laying on the exam table and kept trying to roll away, but he only cried for a minute when he got his shots. He only had to get two shots since they have all of the combo ones now. He got the DTaP, Hib, Polio, and Pcv. We are waiting on the HepB, and skipped the Rotovirus. Here are his stats.

Head Circumference: 17 1/4 inches
Weight: 16lbs 13oz
Height: 26 1/2 inches

Hopefully I'll Look Good With Dreads....

because I've become terrified of my hairbrush lately. I know that postpartum hair loss is normal, but that doesn't make it any less alarming. Usually I only clean my hairbrush once every two weeks or so. Now I'm having to do it every time I brush my hair. This has brought me to the perfectly logical conclusion that if I don't brush my hair, it won't fall out. Makes perfect sense right?

It seems like a cruel joke. With all of the things your body goes through after having a baby it seems unfair to have to worry about going bald!! Just in case you think I'm overreacting my hairstylist also mentioned it last week. That was very reassuring. I think I may start wig shopping. Until then I'm steering clear of the hairbrush.

Baby Feet

I seem to have a thing for baby feet lately. Almost all of the pictures I've taken of Nathan over the last week are of his cute little toes. I guess when your baby refuses to cooperate with smiles, baby feet are the next best thing. After all they are adorable, and completely kissable.


They also make a great toy that can't get lost, or eaten by the dog. While providing hours minutes of entertainment.



Of course it doesn't hurt that they're attached to this beautiful semi smiling face.