Six Months

Mason, as I type these words, I cannot believe you are 6 months old already. You have been in this world for half a year already; time is flying by!

Let's see what you have been up to these days.

• You are getting so big; you seem bigger every day. You go for your 6 month check-up next week, but my guess is that you are about 18 or 19 pounds. Almost too big for your baby carrier!
• You are in the middle of a package of size 2 diapers. I am thinking we will be moving you up to size 3 the next time we buy diapers.
• You are still wearing size 6 months and 6-9 months clothes. I can squeeze you into a few 3-6 month onesies for bedtime.
• We just introduced formula for the first time; mixing it in with your usual breast-milk bottles and you drink it just as quickly and quietly as ever. You haven't even acted like anything has changed! Next we will be introducing a sippy cup!
• You are a great eater. You eat baby cereal with fruit for breakfast and follow-up with a bottle and then eat a half of a jar (step 2) of fruit for lunch and then follow that up with a bottle. You have an entire jar of step 2 baby food for dinner (You love Apples & Chicken or Chicken Noodle) and then usually follow it with nursing afterwards. You also love trying new things in your mesh-feeder. Your favorite so far is a freezer-pop. You love to suck all the juice out of it, but it keeps you quiet while the rest of us eat dinner.
• You don't have any teeth yet, but you are drooling and chewing like crazy. We can see the teeth under your gums...any day one is going to pop through.
• You started waking up in the middle of the night to eat, so I think you have just gone through a growth spurt. I now nurse you and then follow-up with a bottle at night, just to be sure you are full and content; you started sleeping through the night again. Yay!
• You are sitting up now! You can't get into a sitting position on your own, yet. But, if I sit you down, you do sit and play for a few minutes before falling over and flipping over to your tummy.

• You are trying to crawl so badly. You get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth. You haven't mastered the art of moving your hands or knees just yet, but each day you get braver!



• You are getting better about having other people hold you now. Usually, as long as you can see mommy or daddy you are ok, but this past Saturday we went to a wedding and you stayed home with a new babysitter (and Allison and Preston) and were fine. You didn't cry and had no issues for the sitter, I was so relieved!
• You love to bounce. You have a jumperoo at the every-day babysitter's house and you love to be in it and jump. You jump in your exersaucer and when I am holding you; and you laugh, you are so funny.
• You laugh out loud all the time now and have said "ma" once or twice...just a matter of time! But, I still think you say "Hi" all the time.
• You started waving last week, too! We have to say "Hi" about 1,000 times but eventually you start waving, with your right hand, and usually in your own direction, but it is the cutest thing.
• You love to go for walks in your stroller. You love to sit up and check out the scenery, it doesn't matter where we go, as long as you can sit up and look around.


• Everyone in our house loves you so much. You bring so much joy into our lives.



• You love watching your big sister and brother and laugh at them all the time.

Before I know it, you will be a year old already...I can't wait to see what kind of child you turn out to be, but I do love every minute with you as a baby!

The guilt I feel

So, Mason is almost 6 months old already...I was hoping to nurse him exclusively for 6 months (besides the ocassional jar of babyfood or bowl of baby cereal).

On August 19th, I will have officially hit my goal of nursing for 6 months. The thing is, every time I think about weaning him or introducing formula, I feel so guilty and panicked. I know that what I have done for him is amazing and I have given him a great start, not only that, but I have helped myself lose all my baby weight and done some healthy things for my body as well.

But...I am tired of pumping...I work full-time, as you all know. So, I'm pumping twice a day at work, and Mason is eating 3 bottles a day at the sitters. My supply is dwindling, too; I'm only pumping enough for one bottle at a time, so I can never keep up, I've been killing myself to try to keep up, but even through this, I feel guilty and lazy if I were to quit or supplement, even a little.

So, moms out there, I need your advice, your motivation, your thoughts...This mom thing is just full of guilt sometimes.

Thanks!

My dining room

Sometimes I have no idea why we bought our house; we've changed almost everything about it and still have big plans to change the things we have not yet. I suppose it was priced right, was the size we needed (at the time) and had good bones.

The people we bought our house from didn't do anything to it while they lived there for 17 years, so it left a blank canvas for David & my's vision for a home of our own.

As you can see from these pictures, the dining room left a lot to be desired; it was plain white (yes, with pink curtains) and one of the ugliest chandeliers from the 80's. It also had old carpeting that was buckling because it was not tight. I don't know about you, but I hate carpeting in a dining room; too messy with kids. And, because the walls were white like the ceiling, you didn't even notice the beautiful crown molding at the top.

One of the first things we did the NIGHT we closed on the house was started tearing up carpeting. We knew we were going to replace all the carpeting because the carpet there was horrible; every room had a different color and there was still some shag upstairs.

Anyhow, we found a wonderful surprise underneath the carpet in the dining room, well, actually the whole house (except the family room, because it was added on later); beautiful, original hardwood floors were hiding under the old carpet. Of course, we did end up covering it all back up, except for the dining room.

After looking at numerous paint swatches and trying to figure out what it was we envisioned for our dining room, I suggested that we put up a white chair rail and paint two different colors on either side of the chair rail. David liked my idea and we finally picked out two colors.

I was never really thrilled with the top color; it was way too peachy for me. I wanted something more neutral and brownish, maybe a lighter shade of the bottom color. Just a note, the color in this next picture makes the colors both look really peachy/orange. It's not really that orangey, but you can get the idea.

And, painting some color on the wall really brought out the original molding at the top.


So, fast forward 3 years. The dining room has been painted, the carpet has been ripped up, the chandelier has been changed, we put up a chair rail, and heck, we even put in new windows, so even the window opens differently than it used to. Still, I'm not happy with the color and never really figured out what to do with the walls or what to get as far as window coverings.

I hate picking out curtains more than I hate picking out paint. Of course, curtains can be changed much easier than paint. Still, I just could never find what I was "looking" for as far as what to do with the walls/window. (don't pay any attention to the mess on the table).


Well, I had a brain-storm. I will make my own curtains...what? Yes, I said "make my own curtains". Of course, I had to find material now, but that was so easy. When I saw this material, I loved it and it had all the colors I wanted. It had the peachy color from the top of the wall, it had the brown from the bottom, it had the red to bring in my family room and the green to bring in my living room; it was perfect.

Now...for a pattern. Yes, I knew what style I wanted, but had to look through numerous books of patterns before I found the one. But, I did find it. So, I spent about $48 on material, backing, thread and a pattern, oh and another $3 for a curtain rod.

I had to pull out the [brand new] sewing machine that has been in it's box for 4 years, ahem...at least I didn't have to buy one now. So, I called my mom and asked her to come and spend the night one night and help me (she lives about an hour and a half away).

After she figured out how to read the pattern (and 3 calls to my aunt in Texas who makes curtains for a living) we started actually pinning the pattern to the material, oh, and threading the sewing machine.

But, look at what we did...

(Notice the clean table - it does not usually look like this)

I think the colors in the material neutralized the room a bit. It definitely made the room more homey and warm feeling. I just love them. I love the fact that my dining room now has character and seems finished; it only took me 3 years.

Oh, and I bought the wall sconces at Kohl's for $17, half off! Thank you mom for my birthday money, you paid for my dining room make-over.

Of course, the bowl that used to sit in the middle of my table no longer matches, but that's an easy fix. I need to find some sort of wrought-iron decoration for the middle of the table; of course, I need to find something to do with the 2 stacks of mail/school papers that usually sits on top of the table, too.

Now, on to the family room, which still does not have window coverings either. But, now that I have the creativity bug, a pattern and the sewing machine out of it's box, I'm thinking it will take me half the time!

See, and you thought I haven't been blogging because I've been sitting on the couch eating bon-bons.

Thanks for taking a tour of my dining room.

Until next time.

I'm here, I promise

Yes, I'm still here; just been a stranger to the blog world lately.

Mason is at a stage right now where he needs constant entertainment and attention, as he should be. I have been on the floor, playing with him, as I should be, every night after work. I've just been too wore out at the end of the night to finish my posts. I don't even read my regular blogs anymore; I used to do this a few times a day.

I have numerous posts started, just nothing finished. I used to start or finish posts at work, but not lately. I've been super busy at work. Well, let me correct that, I've always been super busy at work, but lately, I've been focused on my work while I'm at work, which I suppose is a good thing. For the first time since Mason has been born, I don't just have the "mom-brain" while at work, so things are actually getting done at my desk.

The kids and I have been pre-occupied with summer, going on walks in the evening or just staying up late watching movies and eating popcorn or ice-cream. So, while we're not doing anything too exciting, we are busy and I just don't have the time to do it all these days. So, I've been choosing to spend any free time with my kids.

Plus, as you can see, sometimes, I just can't get on either computer at home...

And, Mason doesn't stay where I put him anymore...he's rolling, scooting, army-crawling and really, really trying to crawl. He can get up on his hands and knees and rock, then he either scoots backwards or falls forward. This is where I spend lots of time lately...

And, he plays peek-a-boo now, which is totally fun.

So, while the posts aren't coming regularly anymore, rest assured, I am here, we're all ok (besides my car accident last week - more to come on that later) and we're just enjoying our summer; it will be over before we know it.

Have a great week!