8 months old

My little guy turned 8 months old on the 15th.  He is doing great, and B and I still can't believe how lucky we are.  He is crawling everywhere and pulling himself to stand on all the furniture and his new toy he got for Christmas.  He has even let go of the furniture and the toy to try to get something else.  He immediately falls (no real balance yet), but it's impressive to see him try.  He does cry sometimes when he falls, but gets over it pretty quickly.

  He is a great eater and is starting to prefer finger foods to baby foods.  No teeth yet, but that doesn't stop him from eating crackers, pasta, cooked carrots, green beans, peas, chicken, etc. 

He is chatting up a storm.  Lots of "da"s and even some "momomomom"s.  He is really fun when he babbles and looks at you like he's really trying to carry on a conversation.  So far nothing has a name, just blabber talk.

I'm coming to get you, Dad!!

I'm so sassy standing up at the chair!

He was 21lbs 7 oz at his last drs apt (for his ear infection), but that was with clothes on.  My guess is he's closer to the high 20s.  Huge for 8 months!!!  He is currently on his second round of antibiotics for this ear infection, though he had another fever at daycare today, so B brought him home and I'm going to stay home tomorrow and go back to the pediatrician.  Poor buddy- he just doesn't look good right now.  I do have to say, he doesn't get too crabby when he's sick, so I'm definitely counting my blessings in that regard.  I definitely wish that daycare was less germy :)  Alas.......

So, those are SYT's updates.  I'll be home with my buddy all day tomorrow, and, while I'm sad he's not feeling well, I am excited to get an extra day with him. 

Dinner Club Help

Ladies,

We have dinner club this Saturday night and I need your help!!  The theme this month is Soup Spectacular, so the four "guest" couples are bringing the soups and the host couple is providing the appetizers and dessert.  I love, love, love soup, but I am currently stuck and need some advice.

Over New Years we did a wonderful baked potato soup and minestrone soup for our guests that were here.  Both are delish, but someone has done a baked potato soup before, and one of the dinner club couples came to our New Years Day party, so they just had the minestrone.  I also am trying to stay away from chili because I'm sure someone else will do it (we're usually one of the more creative couples in the group). 

We've thought about white chicken chili (I have a great recipe for it, but is it too much like chili?), tomato soup (could be considered boring), or a simple chicken and rice.  Do you guys have any soups that you love?  Anything interesting or different?  Or do any of the above sound great?  I will take any suggestions you all have, and I'll let you know what we decide (and I'll post the recipe after the weekend).

Thanks so much!

If you are from the land of the tundra

Tell the world you love it and embrace the fabulousness that is winter by wearing the darling charm below!!

Mitten charm from T&Co.

I am putting this on all of my future gift lists.  Such a perfect charm for this northern girl!

What's going on at our house

I have mastitis, Spence has another ear infection (his third since October), and B has a sore throat.  Anyone want to come hang out with this healthy crowd?????  Yep, we're a fun bunch.  And, our kitchen?????  Wowzers, I think a hurricane must have come through here while I was at work today! 

Has anyone who reads this had mastitis before?  How long does it take for the chills, body aches, redness, and pain to go away?  This is SO yucky! 

Also, while we have 4-5 inches of snow on our back deck, I'm hoping for more this weekend!!  It looks like many of you out there are enjoying the snow too!!  I'd love to get Junie, Spence, B and I out on a long snowy walk on Sunday after church!! 

Baptism Day

Well, he's in with the Big Guy upstairs............................

These were all taken after the service.  SYT did very well for the actual baptism part.  He looked a little frightened when we tipped him backwards over the font, but didn't fuss at all.  He also seem confused when just his hair got wet- he's used to the full body bath :)  MCW asked if he wore a gown or an outfit.  Neither Blair nor I had a "family outfit" per se, so I bought him a light blue, very traditional looking outfit from Petit Ami.  I was going to have it monogrammed, but I thought if we had another baby boy in the future, I would use the same outfit again, so I left it plain. 

SYT with the font

Precious little hands

Father Holgren, us and the Godparents (B's brother and his darling, prego wifey)

Our teeny fam (excuse the really bad pic of me and SYT- B's the only cute one here)

After the brunch, my parents and my gram, B's parents, the Godparents, and B's cousin and her husband all went out for brunch at the country club close to our house.  It was delish!!!  We debated hosting at home, but after having 5 guests in our house all weekend and planning meals for all the other times of the weekend, I'm glad we went with a restaurant.  It ended up being much more reasonable than we expected and it really took the stress off us! 

It was very nice having our families around to celebrate the occasion, and, while I love them all dearly, I'm so glad we have our house back!!  We have been go, go, go since Thanksgiving, and I'm so thankful we'll have a few weeks of quite ahead of us to just get back into our routine.  Spencer was a horrible napper this weekend due to the commotion around the house, and, while he remains happy, he gets really clingy if he doesn't sleep and that can be hard when you are also trying to cook meals, make sure guests are happy, and clean the kitchen constantly!!!! 

So, here's to SYT's baptism and a restful week ahead for all of us!!  Hope you all had a great weekend!

Epiphany Sunday

This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom is all my delight

Listen to Him

Today is the day we baptize our son in hopes that he will  learn to love, find joy in, and learn from His Son. 

Sale for the little ones!

Bella Bliss, a darling children's store, is having it's winter sale right now.  I just placed an order for SYT and I can't wait for them to arrive!!  I feel like I got darling outfits at great prices, and I'm sooooo excited to put them on my buddy!

Apparently the site is under construction right now (just for a little bit) so I can't post a pic of the cute outfits I ordered, but I'll try to get a pic once they arrive.  There's a darling layette outfit that comes in pink, blue, red, and white that can be monogrammed in numerous colors that would be a great present for a new baby!!

Quotable Monday

 

 

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

Marcus Aurelius

Our Holiday Adventures

We went up to Petoskey on Christmas Eve to celebrate with my family.  While we were there, we:

went on a long walk outside with our pup, Greg, Nina, and their pup.  The snow was glistening like diamonds in the areas where no one had walked.  It was absolutely gorgeous. 

I wore SYT in the Ergo and within the first 20 minutes of the walk, he was sleeping soundly and cuddled up to stay warm. 

He was certainly cute enough in his little snowsuit!

The river starting to ice over

Christmas Eve we had dinner with B's aunt, uncle, cousin, and grandma before church.  We left SYT sleeping at their house while we attended mass with my family.  It was a wonderful service, and I love singing all the Christmas carols.  It makes my heart so happy!

Christmas day we woke up slowly, played with Spencer and opened gifts with my family.  My grandma hosts for Christmas dinner, and there were 17 of us this year.  We had a great meal, got to sing more carols, and played Catch Phrase.  We normally play Scattergories, but this year we switched it up and played Catch Phrase.  It was really fun, and SYT charmed the family with his crawling and his constant smile.

SYT with my uncle Jon

Santa Claus smocked outfit- he looked adorable!

With his mimi (my mom)

Singing Christmas carols while Gram plays the piano.

The next night we went to my aunt and uncles house for dinner and to celebrate Nina's birthday.

Happy Birthday Nina! 

Monday we skiied while my mom watched Spencer.  It was chilly, but the snow was perfect and we all had fun.  I would have loved to ski a few more days, but we had to pack up that afternoon and come home to work for the rest of the week.

For NYE we went over to B's cousin's house and hung out with some of his family that came into town.  We had a lot of fun just hanging out.  Lots of champagne was consumed- too much for some people!!!  Nursing makes me toe the line pretty well ;)

No, I am NOT naked.  I just have a strapless top on.  Should have been a little more aware of this when taking the pic though!

N&K dancing with Spencer.  She's the one who is due in March with their first baby.  They're going to be wonderful parents- they are incredible with Spencer.

Ready for 2011!!

It's been wonderful reading about your holidays with your families, and it was a really nice year for us as well.  I'm ready for 2011 to begin and see how the year unfolds.  I'll be praying for a wonderful one for all of you!!

Happy New Year!!

Here's to a wonderful 2011!!! 

(Mom says that hopefully in 2011 she'll do a better job cleaning my face before taking pictures of me!!)