Nine Months

Wow, another month has flown by. Mason you have been alive in this world outside of my womb as long as you were inside. Before we know it, you will be a year old already.

For now, let's see what you've been up to.

• You are still wearing 12 month clothes. You still have some 9 month clothes that fit you, but not the pants, you are going to be a tall boy!


• You are still in size 3 diapers, they fit you great


• I'm guessing you are about 20 pounds now; you go for your next check-up in two weeks.


• You love food! You eat anything that we give you. You are becoming way too independent though, you like to feed yourself, so we are having a hard time feeding you baby food these days



• You still don't have any teeth, but that is not stopping you at all


• You can drink out of a sippy cup now and love orange juice (even though I water it down).


• You walk along furniture all the time and stand unassisted for long periods of time now



• You can take 2-3 steps now before you fall down and love walking from the foot stool to the couch; you will be walking by next month, I know it.


• You are sleeping through the night again, hallelujah!


• You say da-da very well and say it ALL the time; I've been trying to get you to say ma-ma, but you laugh and say da-da instead. However, you do call me da-da, too, so I forgive you. Ha!


• You can crawl up the stairs now! And, you move quick. We have learned that we have to block off the stairs because you will not stay down if you are in a room with stairs, even though no one is usually upstairs.


• You love to play with Legos, although I think you like to eat them more than play, you always crawl towards the Lego table (unless the stairs are not blocked off!)


• Mason, you are getting into EVERYTHING! Nothing is safe if it is in your reach and you put everything in your mouth. It is definitely an incentive for me to keep the house clean.

Mason, I thank God for you all the time. You and your siblings are the best thing that ever happened to me and I can't wait to see the kid you turn out to be. I love you sweet baby boy!

Eight Months

Oh my, I can't believe another month has gone by. My sweet baby Mason is now 8 months old.

Let's see what you are doing this month, Mason!

• You are now wearing 12 month clothes; I can still get you into a few 6-12 month outfits, but they are getting short. 9 month clothes fit you, but are stretched, you are definitely getting taller by the day.


• You have been moved up to size 3 diapers now, which fit you much better than the 2's.


• You are drinking formula exclusively now as you just finished off the last of the frozen milk I had stored for you. But, you don't seem to mind, as long as you are eating, you are happy.


• You enjoy food very much. You eat cereal with fruit twice a day and then a 2 jars of food for dinner. You LOVE mashed potatoes and gravy. I've even let you try spaghetti with meat sauce and you ate every bite; I couldn't feed you fast enough. Even though you still don't have any teeth, you are getting along just fine. Oh, and you love yogurt, too!


• You are still crawling and getting into everything, you are just faster now.



• You are starting to walk along furniture more and are even getting brave enough to let go and stand for a few quick seconds every now and then. This weekend we put you in a walker for the first time and you can move very fast!



• You can throw your arms up when someone says "BIG BOY" and you laugh and smile. You get bored though if we do it too many times in a row.


• You still like to clap to patty-cake and wave when we say "bye-bye".


• You went to your first wedding this week (cousin Kelly) and were such a well-behaved baby. You were quiet during the ceremony and happy at the reception (in said walker). Oh, and you looked SO cute in your shirt, tie and vest; everyone kept calling you "little Baby Capone".


• You have been sleeping better at night this week, despite the fact that you have another cold. You sleep better during the day when you are being held or in your jumperoo at the sitter's house, yes, you fall asleep in the upright position; it's way too cute!


• You are starting to talk and make noises more; even "singing" as we call it.


• You are very laid back and easily adapt to any situation or environment, as long as you are with mom or dad. We can take you anywhere and you are content. You are great even at restaurants, as long as we have Cheerios, puffs, or crackers for you to gnaw on while we wait for our food.


• You love to follow your sister and brother anywhere you can; as long as they don't touch you and try to hold you or keep you from getting into something. They make you laugh out loud all the time; we love the sound of your laughter.

Mason, the past 8 months have been a joy with you in our lives. I didn't realize our family was missing something until you came into this world. We all love you so much and enjoy watching you grow every day. You truly are a blessed little boy and we are blessed because of you.

Back to Blogging

I promise...I am going to try to make a real effort to get back to blogging on a more regular basis. I've been so busy and had so many things to blog about, but not had the time to do the typing. I want to. I just can't seem to fit it into the day anymore.

It's taken me quite awhile, but my brain has found it's way back to work while I'm sitting at my desk. I used to start my blogs at work and then add pictures and post them when I got home. But, lately, I've found myself more focused while at work and doing the things I'm actually supposed to be doing.

Rest assured, we are all healthy and well. We are just a busy family of five. Summer has ended, school has started, soccer began and Mason is crawling, just to name a few of thing things that have been occupying our time.

Please stay tuned, I will be posting many pictures from things we have done in the past two months that have been keeping us so busy.

Thanks for your patience.

7 Months

Mason...I can't believe another month has flown by. You are now 7 months old! (for those of you who read my blog, ignore the fact that I haven't posted in a long, long time)!

Let's see what you are doing now; you have learned a lot this month:

• You weighed in at 17 pounds 13 ounces at your 6 month check-up, and were 26 1/2 inches long. You are longer than you are heavy...so you look very skinny.
  
• You now eat 3 or 4 jars of baby food every day and cereal once or twice; you are a great eater!



• You are crawling for real now, not just the army crawl or scooting, but actually crawling everywhere.



• You are getting into everything now, and crawl faster when someone is after you!



• You are pulling yourself up already; trying to walk along furniture and trying to grab everything on every table; we are in so much trouble.




• You have been camping for the first time this past month. For Labor Day weekend, we went camping, in a pop-up camper and you had a blast.



• Mason, you are a great baby, very happy and always smiling or laughing.

• You can say 'da-da' now, and say it all the time.
• You started waving and clapping (patty-cake) this month, too.


• You have been sick for the first time this past week and are now on antibiotics for the first time ever, but you love the Amoxicillin, take it like a champ.


• You play and interact with us so much more nowadays; Allison and Preston just adore you!

Mason, you have brought so much joy into our lives and make everyone around you happy. You are an easy-going happy baby whom we all love so very much. Before we know it, you will be running around the house and tearing everything apart; I can't believe how fast you are growing! We love you so much.

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.