What we've been up to

Someone asked me the other day what we've been up to and I had to really think about it to give them an answer. The days just blur into each other you know? I mean, can anyone tell me what happened to September because I can't believe it is over already! Fall is my favorite time of year and I can't wait for it to get a little cooler so that I can spend more time outside without sweating to death. So here is an update of what we've been up to lately.

Last week Anthony and I got to go to the temple for the first time since James was born! It was wonderful. As I was preparing our things in the morning, I realized that I hadn't worn my temple dress for over a year...I tried it on and BOY, that thing did not fit anymore. Sad face. So we got to the temple a little early so I could buy a new one. Luckily I only had to go up one size and I got one with a little more room to grow this time :) My mom drove all the way from Trenton to be our babysitter and she sat with James in the lobby while we were in there. He was so good, I was so proud of him! It was a special visit since we got to do the sealing of Anthony's grandparents and Anthony's mom got to be sealed to them afterwards. It was a precious thing to be a part of. So now that I know it can be done, we are going to try harder to get to the temple with a baby in tow.

Last weekend my brothers and my mom came to visit and we had a blast! On Saturday my Mom and I went to the Relief Society broadcast and got shushed in the chapel since we were talking so much. It reminded me of old times (we like to make fun of the choir's hairdos). Sunday night Ant's parents and niece and nephew came over for his birthday dinner and it was a full house! We had 7 adults, 3 kids, 5 dogs (ours, plus my moms, plus one we are dog sitting), and 1 cat in our house! It was a mad house! Anthony got two cakes as requested and since I am on a diet he is happy as can be to have the leftovers all to himself. His present this year is getting his boat motor fixed so that he can take the boat out fishing. Of course, he wants to take James with him to get him fishing early!

This week has been really low key, just doing my usual cooking, cleaning, making baby food, feeding the baby, going to baby classes at the library, and trying to keep up with all my shows that just started :) James will be 8 months old tomorrow so stay tuned for his 8 months pictures and update!

Tender Moments

This evening was wonderful. Anthony had just left to go fishing with a guy from church, so James and I were alone playing in the living room. I was on the floor with him and James kept looking at me and laughing, like I was the funniest thing he had ever seen! I grabbed him and started "gobbling" him up and he just giggled and giggled and giggled!! He kept putting his hands on my face and laughing, coming closer and closer, like he just couldn't get close enough to me. Later, after his bath, we were sitting the rocking chair and I was reading him scripture stories. He was just sitting on my lap and watching, hugging his blanket and resting his head on my chest and his body into the crook of my arm. Once the story was finished, I just sat there awhile and rocked. I looked down after a minute and his eyes were closed and he had drifted off to sleep, snuggled against me. I rested my head on his head and sat there for another 10 minutes, drinking it in. This must be what heaven feels like. Amazing.

James' new trick

We got this from my mom: every time James would start his "singing" we would tap his mouth to make a wavy sound. It sounded so funny, we couldn't stop doing it! We realized the other day that if we put our hand to his mouth like we are going to tap on it, he immediately starts making noise. Today he would even pull our hand to his mouth so we could do it. Now we can't wait to show everyone his new trick! :)

So Many Swapping Goodies!!

My favorite color swap package from Sara @ Outta this World came today!!!! I had so much fun getting to know this awesome momma and picking out things for her. I seriously feel like I have a new buddy now, only we happen to live across the country :) She picked out the best things for me. Take a look:

 Here is what it looked like when I first opened it up. Such cute packing!!

 Each item was numbered 1-8 and she included a sweet note with little explanations on why she picked each item. Such an awesome idea! It made me wish I had done that :)

Here are all of my treasures laid out:

• a totally cute candle that smells awesome
• a blue picture frame that fits our one family picture from our vacation in the keys perfectly and is already hanging up in the family room
• two pairs of adorable earrings
• a beautiful necklace that I can't wait to wear
• A bottle of blue nail polish. I try to do a little pampering every Friday night when Anthony works late, so this Friday this gets a try. I can't wait to have blue fingernails!
• A bumgenius cloth diaper in snaps!!! I was soooooo excited to get this!!!! We are still cloth diapering part time, but I am thinking of doing it more now that James is getting older and we are getting the hang of things, so an extra diaper is worth its weight in gold!! Seriously, I could have just gotten this in the mail and I would have been ecstatic. Fluffy mail is the best!
• Some flower print fabric that I can't wait to use. I'm thinking of looking up "decorating with fabric" on pinterest to find some ways I can display this like art. It is such a beautiful print!
• A box of pretzel m&m's. If you haven't tried these yet, you should. They are delicious! And not too many calories, considering they are m&ms
• A bag of cookies and cream kisses. Mmmmmm...I'm not going to lie I seriously wanted to rip open the bag and just dive right in as soon as I saw them. I plead the 5th on whether or not I actually did it...

This was so much fun, I had such a great time shopping, getting my package, and best of all making a new friend. Thanks again Sara, you are the greatest! And thanks to Mamarazzi for being such a wonderful host. I can't wait for the next one!

7 Months Old!

The little guy is 7 months old! It feels like so much has happened in the past month. With James starting solid food, it seems like he has really grown and developed along with it. He eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner now and we have started to actually have family dinners where we all sit down at the table and eat. It is so nice! Of course, I don't get to eat mine until James is done, but I like the habit that we are starting. The separation anxiety has started this month. James has really started to notice when we leave the room or when we put him down for a nap and he lets us know that he is not okay with that! I am so glad that we don't share walls with anyone else anymore, otherwise I would be worried about his screams bothering them all the time :) He is also trying so hard to crawl, but he hasn't really gotten the hang of it yet. I don't think he realizes that he can use his feet, so he pushes up on his hands and twirls around in a circle, getting frustrated that he isn't getting anywhere. Also, he is almost sitting up on his own. He can sit by himself for a good 30 seconds, but then he loses his balances and usually falls over to the side.

He is such a sweet baby. He smiles and laughs ALL the time and he flirts with anyone who comes up to him. I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but he does not stay still! He is lightning fast when he grabs at things he wants and he is very determined! He really is such a blessing to our family. He loves to talk and "sing" to himself while he is playing and he has this grunt that he uses when strangers come up to talk to him. I think we are in for a talkative childhood!

7 Month Stats
Weight: 16.4 lbs (16th Percentile)
Height: 25.5 inches (2nd Percentile)

Things he loves at 7 Months: Jumping, rolling, playing with the dogs, grabbing hair, grabbing glasses off of your face, getting tickled, putting toys in his mouth, eating solid food (apples, peaches, squash, carrots, green beans, peas, & spinach), being in the same room as mommy or daddy, riding in the car, going shopping, funny faces, funny noises, blowing raspberries, taking a bath, and going on adventures
Things he hates at 7 Months: Being left alone (even for a second), taking naps, avocados, having his face wiped off, watching other people eat when he doesn't have something to eat, and loud noises like the blender and the vacuum cleaner

We Want To Know Wednesday

Today is We Want to Know Wednesdays with Mamarazzi and Queso! Finally those burning questions will get answered :)


{1}Do you prefer to text or call?
Ah, text, definitely text. I feel so awkward when I call people just to tell them one little thing. And then sometimes the person wants to talk and you don't, or you feel like talking but they don't, ahh texting is so much better!

{2}What is the last text message in your phone and who is it from?
Anthony claims that he tried to text me a few times over the last few days, but I haven't received a thing...hmmm....should I believe him? I probably should, he is my eternal companion and all.

{3}What are your favorite phone apps?
Sadly, I have no phone apps. Since my ubercool phone died a terrible death at the bottom of the toilet, I have gone back to my featureless flip phone. That does not have apps. Sigh. But, when I did have them, I loved my geocaching app! Find a geocache at any location at any time, such fun!

{4}At what age do you think kids are ready for a cell phone?
I don't really know the answer to this one. I like that kids with a phone will be able to call me and tell me where they are, but I don't think they need to be on it all the time. I didn't get a cell phone until I was in college (gasp!), but I can distinctly remember a few sticky situations in high school where a cell phone would have been awesome. Sooo, maybe middle school?

{5}Share a current pic or video taken with your phone.

Isn't he a doll? I can't get enough of this grin!

My first swap

 

I am excited to be doing my very first swap!! Ever since I heard about them from my friend Leah, I have dying to do one and lucky for me I get to do Mamarazzi's Favorite Color swap! My favorite color is blue, so that means that my partner will be sending me a package full of blue goodies and I will be sending her treasures in her favorite color. I don't know what color to shop for yet, but last night I couldn't help myself and I started to plan things I could get for different colors. You know. Cause I like to plan :)

Friday Confessional

I haven't done one of these in awhile, so I thought I would join in today!

I confess...

that every time I need to file or find something alphabetically, I still have to sing the alphabet song. I try to look all intelligent and serious while I am doing it, but I am still singing it in my head.

I confess...

I secretly wish that I could capture something funny on video and get it to go viral. I would love to put something on youtube and have my brother forward it to me, saying, "Did you see this??" and I can say, "I made that!!!". I think it would make me ubercool.

I confess...

I had an epiphany on my vacation. I realized that I would rather be at home! I prefer my day to day life to living it up in Key West, which I know probably makes me crazy on some level but at the same time life must be pretty good for me to feel that way. I have been enjoying every minute since I came home and I can honestly say that I love staying at home now. I really have found my groove and it is a wonderful thing.

I confess...

I had the urge to make towel animals the other day. So I googled how to make a swan online and tried it out for my guest bathroom. It was not pretty. It turned out looking like a faceless snake...The hand towel is back to its boring life as a regular folded towel but I have a dream of one day doing something creative with my bathroom towels. I saw an idea on pinterest of placing hooks for hanging towels, with each family member having their own hook. Hmmmm... do I smell DIY??

What are your confessions this fabulous Friday?

Adventures in Baby Food

I am having so much fun making baby food now that James is eating solids! He is quite an adventurous eater and so far will eat anything I give him, although he definitely eats some foods with more gusto than others. He absolutely loves squash and carrots, and generally likes green beans, peas, rice cereal, bananas, and applesauce (which I made myself!). I thought for sure that once I gave him fruit, he would be all about it and would turn down the veggies, but he hasn't been that fond of the fruit. Weird!

I usually give him solids 2 to 3 times a day depending on how hungry he is acting and he has gotten the hang of it quickly. We went from really liquidy rice cereal falling out of his mouth, to full on baby-bird style "give me more" actions in just a few days. This guy was ready for food! He loves to get his hands on the food that makes its way out of his mouth and then smear it over everything he can touch. Part of me hates this because it makes things so messy, but I also try to remind myself that getting messy is supposed to be part of the experience at this point. I have started feeding him with no clothes on though!

PS, doesn't he look like a completely different baby?? Every morning when I get him out of bed, I think, "Not only is he bigger, but he looks different than yesterday!"

Key West Vacation

Saturday we got back from our very first vacation since James was born! We went to Key West for a week for a vacation with some friends from Tampa and we had lots of fun. We stayed on the navy base there since my friend is retired navy and we got a great deal on a two bedroom trailer. It was a little loud because of all the military helicopters coming in at all hours, but once we got some ear plugs we were set!

Tuesday afternoon we left James with my mom and went on an afternoon snorkel/sunset trip. It was so strange to be going somewhere with Anthony and not have James around!

 Wednesday morning we walked around Key West and visited the Butterfly Conservatory. It was so neat to see all of the butterflies!

 Wednesday night we all went on a Sunset Sailing trip with James. That was....a little difficult. He was pretty cranky and I felt sooooo bad for everyone else on the boat that they had to listen to my screaming child. We brought a bottle for him, so that bought us some time, but eventually we just had to wrap him up and jiggle him to sleep. Once he fell asleep I finally was able to relax and enjoy the sunset. Until then, I was having serious regrets about keeping him up past his bedtime.

 Once we got off the boat, we met up with our friends to watch the street performers and get dinner. The seafood was so good!

Thursday morning Anthony went lobstering and caught 6 lobsters for us and in the afternoon we all visited the Shipwreck Historeum and the aquarium. Thursday night we went on a late night ghost tour that was really creepy. When we were on our way there, James exploded out of his diaper and got poo everywhere! It was all in his car seat, the car seat straps, his onesie, everywhere!! So I had to wipe him down, change his diaper, and change his clothes all on the side of the road while we were supposed to be checking in at the ghost tour. Oh, life with a baby!

Friday Anthony and I snorkeled just off the base where we were staying and Anthony speared a fish. We saw all sorts of cool things, including a 6 foot green moray eel. I screamed! Those things are pretty scary looking when they are right next to your face. Friday night we went back to downtown Key West to visit Ripley's Believe it or Not.

It was a fun vacation, but it was nice to get home on Saturday and sleep in our own beds. James definitely had some sleep he needed to catch up on and I have never been more excited to see my washer and dryer :)

More peas please!

Peas are a hit!

My new tote bag

Today I tackled a project I've had sitting in my to-do folder for awhile: a cute tote bag! I used the tutorial from Skip to my Lou here. I am so proud of the results! It is going to be my new church bag.