Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Blogaholic.

My name is Sarah, and I'm a blogaholic.

Seriously.

I think I might need an intervention.

Every week (generously) I find a new blog that I giant puffy heart and I have to follow, lust over, drool over and wish I could copy down to the last exclamation point. Hey, we all have a thing. Some people watch internet movies (not met...if you ask me if I've seen something, chances are I haven't. I didn't even know about that "hide yo' kids, hide yo' wife" guy FOREVER til Nick forced me to watch it), some people read the news...I'm a blog follower. I follow probably close to 20 blogs religiously and I read through countless more randomly through the day (ahhh StumbleUpon.....)

Case in point....New England Though Yummy Mom's Eyes. More specifically, her Operation Simplify & Purge Project. Doing it. Absolutely, positively DOING it. In fact, I'm signing off my blog now and going to clean out my bathroom. Wonder how much crap I'll throw away?

*Update: did it. Started in the bathroom - cleaned three drawers and our linen closet. I didn't count how many items I tossed (like she did) but it was probably close to 100 when it was all said and done (I filled the whole garbage can plus I shoved more stuff in an empty plastic wrapper from a giant thing of TP from Costco) :-)

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Skillz

{12/21/2011: This was originally posted on a blog I started just for Ben. I no longer keep up with that blog, so I'm moving them all over to this one}

Well, most of you know that Ben has his 9 month check up on Monday. He's doing great - he's a tall boy at 30 inches and he weighs 18.10 pounds. The doctor is super pleased with his progress. She told me I needed to make sure he was eating 3 solid meals a day, in addition to his formula. I have to admit that I'd slacked off on that a lot. Since we introduced some finger foods to him, he no longer has an interest in cereal and refuses to eat it at all. I got tired of throwing it away and quit making it for him, so breakfast was sort of lost. So since Monday I've been making sure he eats breakfast, lunch & dinner. I've also slightly decreased the amount of formula he's on. He was eating right about 30 ounces every day and she said that was fine (he needs to have a minimum of 20 and should be down to 20 by the time he's a year) but if he didn't have much of an appetite for meals to try decreasing the formula a bit. That should also help stretch how long it lasts. We buy the giant cans from Costco that are $35 and we currently use 3 of those a month. Spendy stuff. I'll be excited when he's off of it and on whole milk - she said a few weeks before his 1st birthday we can start mixing whole milk in with the formula until it's all milk and no formula. Only $300 more dollars to go (ha, that's how I think of it since it's about $100 to feed him formula a month).

Aside from that, Ben also got his first illness. Last Monday he came down with an ear infection but a quick trip to the doctor and some antibiotics and he was all better! Seriously, he was 100% better the next day after having the first dose. I hope this was a rare occurrence for him and this doesn't spark a new era of sickness. As well as he did with it, it SUCKS to have a sick kiddo.

Last weekend we drove up to Lewiston, ID to attend my cousin Megan's wedding. We left Friday morning and came back Sunday morning. He's a great traveler and charmed the pants off every one he met. :-)

Last time I blogged I mentioned that he was working on pulling himself up to stand. Consider that skill mastered. This morning I was sitting on the couch and he was sitting on the floor at my feet playing. I got up and crossed the room to get my phone, when I turned back he had pulled himself up to stand. I took a video of it this evening (which is posted on his FB) but that attempt does not do his skills justice. Since I took the video, he pulled himself up 4 or 5 more times and took a little walk down the couch. Our little boy is growing up so fast.

It seems every day he learns a new way he can use his body. It's so fun to watch but it's a bittersweet feeling. I remember very clearly just a short few months ago, wishing for this time - wishing for when we could sit and play instead of me just watching a tiny baby lump sleep. And sleep. And sleep. Now I'm wishing for a bit more sleep time...kind of. I love watching him learn and grow and explore and the things he remembers. For instance, I ditched the baby tub and now he just sits up in the regular bathtub. At first, after he was washed, I'd lay him on his tummy in the water to play and he enjoyed it. A few times after doing that, he licked at the water and got a big mouthful and coughed on it. Ever since then, he cries if we try to put him on his belly - he remembers the time he got scared/hurt from laying down and wants no part of it.

He's also deliberately dropping/throwing things out of his way. The whole drive up to Lewiston, I'd give him toy after toy that he'd play with for a few minutes and then toss out of his chair. During meals, I give him his own spoon to play with so he doesn't grab at the food spoon and fling food every where. He no longer wishes to play with that spoon and drops it on the floor. I play a long for a little bit, by picking it back up and giving it to him but after about the 5th time, the spoon stays on the floor. Stinker. :-)

He jabbers a lot now. I miss it on the days when he's quiet. Like today. Today we were way busy (hardly home at all) and he didn't say much. Usually he's just jabbering non stop and I love it. I love all the different sounds he's figuring out how to make. I can't wait til he says his first (real) words!

I think that's it for a Ben update. We hope you are all enjoying the final days of summer! I know I'm looking forward to fall. I'm WAY excited for Halloween and letting him try all sorts of new stuff at Thanksgiving and spoiling him rotten on his 1st birthday and Christmas just a short week after that :-)

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Recipe Binder.

Recently I was introduced to a new blog by my friend Jamie via FB. The Dating Diva's website - it's just date ideas and other things along that theme for keeping your marriage fresh and romantic. They had a post not too long about about making a binder to store your dating ideas in which I thought looked so cute. I took that idea and spun it off into my own version for a present for my friend Susan who has recently moved into her very first apartment.

Here was my inspiration:



(original post can be found here)

Anyway, from that I took my inspiration. Following all the steps and only changing things like the color of the pages and what I chose to write on the tags, I made a cook book for Susan in a patriotic theme (since she's doing Americana decor at her apartment). I wrote up and printed out about 10 or so recipes that are tried and true and stuck them in under the categories of "sides, main dishes and desserts". I created space for her to tuck in recipes she wants to try and there's plenty of room to add in her own favorites as she tries more out.

Here's my version (my pictures didn't come out as nice as the Dating Divas one did):




Monday, September 20, 2010

9 Months

Our handsome boy is 9 months old!


Stats:
  • Weight: 18.10lbs (20th percentile)
  • Height: 30 inches (93rd percentile)
  • Head: 45 cm (48th percentile)

He is:
  • Crawling EVERYWHERE
  • Pulling himself up to stand
  • Cruising the couch (a little)
  • Eager to walk (with assistance)
  • Babbling a LOT
  • Potentially working on a cutting his first teeth (big increase in drool recently but who knows...it'll peek through when it peeks through)
  • Getting great at self feeding (Cheerio's and toast but I have to limit how much he can reach as he tends to stuff it in his mouth like a chipmunk)
  • He can push himself into a sitting position from laying on his tummy (just started that today)
People remark on:
  • His apparent baldness (I maintain that he is NOT bald - he actually has quite a bit of hair, it's just very light)
  • His cheerfulness (the doctor asked if he ever stopped smiling) and general friendliness
  • How much he either looks like me or his dad (depending on who in the family is commenting)
  • His pretty blue eyes (wonder if they'll stick around?)

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)


Dragon tales and the water is wide

Pirate's sail and lost boys fly

Fish bite moonbeams every night

And I love you

Godspeed, little man, Sweet dreams little man

Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings

Godspeed, sweet dreams


The rockets racer's all tuckered out

Superman's in pajamas on the couch

Goodnight Moon, we'll find the mouse

And I love you



Godspeed, little man, Sweet dreams little man

Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings

Godspeed, sweet dreams


God bless mommy and match box cars

God bless dad and thanks for the stars

God hears "amen" wherever we are

And I love you


Godspeed, little man, Sweet dreams little man

Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings

Godspeed, Godspeed, Godspeed, Sweet dreams.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Sick.

sick little boy, loading up on some vitamin C

Well we avoided it for (almost) 9 months but it happened anyway. My poor sweet boy is sick. He's got a cough and a runny nose and a fever and an EAR INFECTION. It started out Sunday morning, he woke up with a slight cough and a bit of a stuffy nose. By the time we got over to my parents house for football, he was feverish. He slept fitfully last night, he wanted to be held but that rocking chair just isn't comfortable for very long, so we took turns holding him a few times through out the night. I elevated one end of the mattress by putting blankets under and he seemed to sleep a little better after that. We never really could get his fever down so I decided to call and see if they could fit him in today. Of course, by the time we got there the Motrin I had given him this afternoon had brought his temp down from 100.6 to 98.8. His lungs sounded fine and his left ear looked fine. She stuck the little tool in his right ear and he immediately burst into tears. :( Poor guy.

He's supposed to have his 9 month check up on Thursday but if he's sick he can't have his "well baby" check up because he isn't...you know...WELL. We got a slight preview of his weight - he's still a skinny guy at 18.something pounds (I didn't catch the ounces) so he's only gained about a pound in 3 months. Since it wasn't a well baby check up they didn't do any of the other fun stuff like height or head circumference (which I already know he has a freaking gigantic head).

Other than being sick, he's in a pretty dang cheerful mood still. He wants to crawl around and play and boy is he ready to walk. He's started cruising around the couch a bit (he can't stand up using the couch just yet - it's still a little on the tall side for him to reach) but once he's up, he's off. He wants to walk - he just needs to get the stability. He'll be off and running before I know it!

So that's a mini-Ben update for you. Hopefully he's feeling better by Friday - my cousin is getting married in Lewiston on Saturday and we were going to drive up on Friday for the event. We'll see!!!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

New

{12/21/2011: This was originally posted on a blog I started just for Ben. I no longer keep up with that blog, so I'm moving them all over to this one}


  • Slapping his hand over his mouth while he makes noise. The only way I can think to describe the motion isn't very PC but oh well. Who am I offending on this little blog any way? It's the Indian "woo woo" noise. He just randomly started doing this in the car yesterday.
  • Clucking his tongue. Again, just randomly started doing it today.
  • Standing. He doesn't stand on his own at all yet (still very wobbly on his feet) but he loves to pull himself up to stand. I'm trying to encourage this skill as much as possible (though I'm sure I'll come to regret this soon).
  • Opening drawers. And out come the little drawer/door stoppers. In fact, I also bought a shorter trash can to fit under the sink. He plays in the recycle bin, too.
  • Being naughty. His favorite thing to do is crawl right over to the outlets and play. They're covered with those stupid plastic outlet over deals but I still don't want him to think it's okay to play there. I shout "no" at him a lot now. He doesn't seem to care.
  • Pushing your hands away. This is a fairly new thing, as well. If he doesn't like what you're doing (like buttoning up his shirts, for example), he'll push your hands away. This is super annoying but I like that he's showing some personality and preferences. Kind of.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Brunch Burritos.


Last night we had friends over for dinner and enjoy steak, potatoes, carrots and bread. We had left over steak and potatoes so this morning I created a brunch burrito. I thought it was REALLY good so I thought I'd share my creation.

  • Cubed steak, warmed up in the skillet with just a bit of oil
  • Scrambled eggs with about a tablespoon of garlic salt
  • Cheese
  • Left over mashed potatoes (mashed with onion, green onion, cheese and then baked)
  • Tortillas
Once everything is heated, I layered the potatoes, the steak, the eggs and topped with cheese.

YUM.