Getting ready for Alex's first Christmas!!

Can you sense my excitement?

We are so excited this season as it is Alex's first. We realize he will not remember it, but ya know what?  We will, and we want it to be a great one :)






Considering last December, our house looked like this 

for a few days before we got a hardwood (esque) floor installed, and we didn't decorate since I was almost 8 months pregnant and outta town for Christmas, this year is looking much better, albeit a little messy with toys!

playing after decorating the tree

homemade scented pinecone decoration,
conveniently placed above trashcan

I set up the Christmas tree indoors while David started working on the "Exterior Illumination" (name that movie quote!!)
Our HOA is actually doing a decorating contest, so we took a walk around the neighborhood on Sunday to check out the competition.  David hopes our house is a contender because of our runway to the big PVC pipe Christmas tree.

Alex has been intrigued by the tree, but so far we have been good about keeping him distracted with other things, like REMOTES!!

Christmas pj's! $15 @ Old Navy-more than I like to spend on a baby clothing item, but I'm making him wear them every night to make it worth it!

I've worked on a few holiday crafts.  One was a pinterest-inspired pinecone decoration (above).
With David's help, we got Alex's hand print for an ornament.  Man, did he LOVE sticking his hand on a plate full of glue!  What a mess, but the end product looks to be worth it.

Another Pinterest Snowflake ornament:

David wanted me to knit/crochet all of our stockings this year.  BUT, he didn't let me know this til Thanksgiving, and that's a little late notice for my knitting time/speed these days, so I am just making stockings for David and Alex.

I already have one that Janet made me years ago, and the dogs...they may not care about the lack of their stockings. ;)

And last but not least, the expected "Santa is a bad man" baby crying photos.

Another Busy Weekend

It's finally starting to look like fall here...though the temperature keeps changing it's mind.

Just about every weekend is busy for us these days, but on weekends when I work a shift at the hospital, they just get jam packed!
On Sunday I did a lot of kitchen stuff:
Janet brought over a few persimmons on Friday when she babysat Alex.  I ate one, steamed & pureed the other two for Alex to try (today with babysitter, so we'll see what he thinks!) and bought a couple more!

I also made more of that yummy hummus.  And plan to bring some to work to share with the ladies :)
I finally got my first pomegranate of the season at the store as an impulse buy when I saw the big bin full of them, so I actually put on an apron (David made fun of me for this) to keep the juice from getting on my white shirt.
The klutz in me rolls her eyes at my insistence to wear white while eating spaghetti/prepping messy foods, and sipping red wine over white carpet at David's boss's house.  sheesh.

I also brought in the pomegranate arils to work to share.  "Wanna put some pomegranate in that?!?" is a key phrase of mine today, lol.

Baby Boy Cuteness is in his mommy-barnacle-baby phase.  He tries to keep up with me when I'm walking from kitchen to living room, then back again.  He'll get frustrated and end up stopping to voice his emotions.
He's exploring a lot of the house from ground level, and I am discovering that I'm a poor vacuumer!

Dexter can't see his hands either, they are moving so fast!

And last but not least, I squeezed in some knitting time for a headband earwarmer for hopefully colder weather!.  I'm anticipating we'll do something fun outdoors in the last weeks of the year.  Such as visiting Santa in downtown Fort Worth, or helping David with our 30 foot PVC pipe xmas light tree in the side yard! (oh, don't worry, I will share pics of that spectacle!)

This Weekend

This weekend felt super busy.

Pumpkin Patch last weekend, but still had to share!

Alex actually kept his pumpkin hat on longer than 5 seconds!

I worked my weekend shift at the hospital.  David and Alex came to eat lunch with me. Then we went grocery shopping for the week, which is always a fun/nervous experience with Alex in tow!  David mowed, because it's still getting up to 80's in Texas (grr-ready for cooler weather already!) Bath time with Alex Saturday night.  I start looking forward to this now, because he just loves his baths-probably because of the toys.  Without them, I think he wouldn't care too much about baths.  Anytime I take him with me to look in the bathroom mirror to play "Who's that baby?!?!" he gets this huge smile on his face.  lol.

Church on Sunday, then the rest of my boring weekend chores.

Hummus!
One of my goals for this weekend was to make hummus from a blogger I recently discovered. But it turned into an ordeal!  The Tuesday before, I asked Janet if she could pick up Smoked Paprika the next time she was at CostCo. She happened to be going right by there anyway, so she sent it home with Alex on Friday. After work on Friday, I took the time to go up to Williams Sonoma to get one of the spices: Sumac.  During our shopping trip, I scoured our grocery store to find Tahini. (in the health foods section if anyone shops at Kroger, NOT near the peanut butters, like I originally thought).  David's eyebrows took a long trip up his forehead at the price, but I assured him this would make quite a few batches of hummus.  During Alex's nap, I gathered and prepped all the ingredients only to realize I had no lemons or lemon juice.  David said he'd go back to the store, because he wanted some wine later that night.  He comes back without the lemon!  oops.  Such a guy moment, if I ever saw one!  Borrowed some lemon juice next door, and food processor I go!  About time.

 End result is delicious, thank goodness.  Shared some with neighbor since she gave me that last little ingredient I needed!  But if anyone makes this hummus, I recommend forcing some on your significant other, as the garlic is delicious, but doesn't exactly facilitate kissing.


Also pureed some beets and mangoes for Alex's new foods this week.

Alex liked them, I'm not a fan, but they sure look pretty!

I finished a Santa hat for Alex on Sunday to wear for our holiday card picture.  I got a great Groupon for holiday cards, but I need to figure out where to take our pics, since it isn't exactly picturesque here yet.

Alex is a-crawling and getting too efficient!

This morning he crawled in a 20 foot route from his blanket to the dog crate, to his play saucer, to the kitchen to check out what I was doing and then he shut the pantry door for me!

Food, Aunts, birthdays

Wow, what?  It's been almost 3 months since I posted last?!?!?!  that can't be right...

Alex is 8 months old today, and what a ham!

He was 24# last month too, so all that scooching on the floor must count as exercise!

Yep, we've been using a few baby sign language gestures.
Milk.  All done!  Eat.  More.  Diaper (though this one I don't think he sees from the changing station as it's done at the hip level)
About a month ago, we noticed that he was using All Done, especially when we lay him down to change his diaper!  It really motivated us to be more persistent with the gestures.  Now I'm catching myself making the gestures at work if I happen to say those words, lol.  It's been a very helpful tool, even with just the 2 words he can sign to us.

He's recently found out how fun peek a boo is...

plus he's been trying to crawl for about a month now.  He'll get from sitting, lunch forward and rock back and forth, but he always gets one of his legs stuck in front/underneath him.  I've been taking lots of videos lately just in case THIS is the time he figures it out!  So I'll be sure to blog/FB it when it does happen!

Food adventures
Last post was his first food.  I've introduced quite a few more since then:
Brown rice cereal-obviously a :-(
Avocado :-/
Green Peas :-/
Yellow Squash :-)
Sweet Potato :-))
Oatmeal :-(
Pears :-))
Banana :-/
Green Beans :-(
Apples :-))
Peaches :-)
Zucchini :-)
Carrots :-)
Butternut Squash :-))
Pumpkin :-/
Parsnips :-/
And most recently this week, I tried Chicken :-/

Next up: turkey, beef/lamb, mango, then yogurt...

Alex finally got to meet Aunt Nicole!  We had lots of fun together...trips to Firewheel (an outdoor mall), Pei Wei Asian Diner (new for Nicole), La Madeleine (since they aren't in CA?!?), and Dallas World Aquarium.

Birthday weekend:
David took me the weekend before to the Horseshoe Bay Resort in Hill Country, for our first weekend getaway without Alex.  It was very relaxing...once we got there!
For David's Big 3-0, he got a tattoo the night before, then I surprised him with a Drive & Ride Event at Texas Motor Speedway.  He's always wanted to do this, and I figured this was a really great excuse.

He had a good time, even in the rain!

That's pretty much what's been happening in our little corner of the world.  Catch ya next time!

Baby Food Attempt #1

Since little man has been hitting his growth spurts early, we decided to start solid foods a couple weeks earlier than the AAP recommendation of 6 months.

So last weekend, I took out my Baby Bullet and made up some brown rice cereal.  And attempted to feed Alex.  Granted, this was a day of firsts not just for Alex, but for us as well.  I've only ever fed 1 or 2 babies in my days as a babysitter, so this was a milestone I was both excited and nervous about.

Alex's first food

(I had to trim this down for it to upload)

After this first try, we have been trying to get him to eat at least a teaspoon every day.  He spit up the first few times, but by the third day, I think he kept down that much.

I really enjoyed my Baby Bullet, and I'm trying to contain the urge to go to the store to get all sorts of fruits and veggies to whip up into some yummy purees for the little man.  But I only have so much freezer space and the experts say that you can only freeze purees for a month, though some sources say up to 3.

Last night, I tried a little avocado since they are awesome and delicious, and he was slightly more accepting of this strange new food, lol.

Next up...

green peas

squash

bananas

apples

pears

carrots...I could keep going!  Can't wait for all the fall favorites like sweet potatoes and butternut squash (MMMMM)

(Can you sense my excitement?)

Portrait session of Alex

On June 16th, a friend of our next-door neighbors took these photos for us as she is interested in getting into newborn/baby photography.
Alex did pretty well and lasted about 2 hours, with a couple nursing breaks and one full out complaint for a tummy shot when he let his head drop and it landed on the coffee table he was on with only a light blanket.  (Suffice it to say, we added some extra padding after that!)
He then took a long 2 hour nap after that!


I narrowed down my favorites to share...
If any friends or family wants certain photos, email me or comment which one(s), and I will email you the .jpg(s)!

Busy week!

This last week was quite busy in our side of the world.
I was a bridesmaid for my coworker in her wedding on Saturday, June 9th AND Alex turned 4 months old which included a visit to the pediatrician.

Tuesday: Alex's 4 month check up. Dr. McClain was so impressed with our little man!  His wt and ht are in the 95th percentiles.  She checked how he sits with help, can support his weight on his little chubby legs with only our hands for balance.  All in all, a healthy happy baby in our midst!

David and I love this onesie!

He also got the updated 4 month shots, and I was smarter about handling the drama this time.  After his 2 month shots, I tried to calm him down, but thought that we both would be better off nursing at home.  But this took WAY too long for both of us.  So, this time I just decided to immediately nurse him after the band-aids were put on in the exam room.  This calmed him down in a matter of seconds.  Whenever we switched sides or he would stop, he'd remember he was still in pain, but overall, the wonderful breast milk worked like a charm!
Milestone alert: He has discovered his feet!  lots of curling his body to grab them, even during nursing, diaper changes and bedtime :)


Getting myself prepped for the wedding with a baby proved interesting: pedicure on Wednesday night between feedings; airbrush tan right after work on Thursday (this was awesome, by the way, for anyone who wonders about it!) but needed to protect the feeding devices, lol; then hair and makeup appointment on Saturday before the wedding, and pumping in the car a total of 3 times over the weekend (from rehearsal to rehearsal dinner, waiting for the church to be opened before the ceremony, and after the reception)

We wouldn't have survived the weekend without Janet helping babysit and staying overnight Friday.
I only got to see Alex for an hour or so on both Friday and Saturday and I missed him so much!

My boys do clean up nice though, huh?

After the ceremony.  Top hat crocheted on request from bride :)

Caitlin and I take a break from dancing.

MoH and I acting "relieved" that all the planning went off without a hitch!

Too busy with baby to blog...

Sorry for the long break between posts!  Life with baby is amazing, beautiful and incredibly busy!  It's amazing the capacity my heart has to love my little guy.

Full birth story if you want to read.  I wrote this sleepily on day 2 of his life at 2:30 AM so I wouldn't forget.

Alexander Brian was born February 5 at 10:41pm. He weighs 8#7oz and is 21.5" long!

The story:  due to developing preeclampsia, my ob wanted to induce me. We got to the hospital a little before 9am Sunday and went thru triage to double check that I needed to be admitted. Yep, BP was still high. After getting to L&D room, they started the pitocin by 11am, and they broke my water around 1pm

The contractions got much worse, and I got through them naturally for about 2 to 2.5 hours before getting an epidural. All was right with the world again. 

I wasn't fully dilated until about 9pm, but my cervix still had a lip so he wanted to wait until that completed softening so my pushing wouldn't be so long. 

The epidural started to wear off enough that I could feel contractions, which in hindsight, was good so that I knew when to start pushing. My ob ended up having to use the vacuum to assist in pulling him out when his heart rate started going down. A couple big and long pushes, he was out!  It wasn't until much later that I realized my ob was stitching me up. Turns out he did an episiotomy at the last minute!  

Alex is worth every bit of any pain and now sleeplessness I've been going through. I'm still only about 4-5 hours of sleep since then!  And here comes the night nurse with my sweet baby to try breastfeeding...

Alex is 3 and a half months now and has been smiling, grabbing, nursing like a champ, and has been sleeping for 7 hours a night the last 2 weeks! (hope I didn't just jinx myself)

Now I'm back at work and this is the busiest I've ever been!  I have a new respect for working moms.

I will seriously try to be better at updating this blog, now that I'm starting to get into a nice pattern.

Some recent photos:

I forgot the travel bassinet, so Janet improvised!

Ceiling fan gazing...

Look at those lips!!