Midweek Randoms

Last Wednesday, I took my friend Heather out for a birthday pancake. She's the big 3-0 now... an oldie but a goodie. ;)

That evening we did family pictures for my cousin which was fun. Then, Thursday was Wii night. 

Friday, Dac worked super late so Reid and I went and and ate ribs with his family. 

I've 'worn' Reid off and on since he was born. I like it because it allows me to be close to him while still getting things done around the house. 

He hasn't really demanded closeness or attention much since he was real little but he can get fussy. This past weekend, he was teething and just plain grumpy. I really needed to vacuum and do some other house work so I threw him on my back. Instant quiet. He was happy there and I got my stuff done. =)

Yep, we may have a problem on our hands later on. The constant teething requires constant attachment to these things.

Anyway, Saturday morning, we were supposed to have a photo session but it got cancelled to a sweet sick little girl. I had already asked my aunt and grandma to babysit and since they were looking forward to seeing the little guy, they came over and played anyway. =)

That afternoon, I picked up Sky (little sister through Big Brothers/Big Sisters) and we went to Target for a few things before going home and making homemade pizza.

She's been wanting to learn more about cooking. I made her do most of the work including whipping up the dough. 

I think she was proud of her masterpieces and we had fun.

Sky has changed so much in the past 7 years. It's just nuts. On one hand she's your typical teenager but she's also very mature. This girl had very little confidence and tried her darndest to push people away before - and now - totally different. She's hilarious and is working so hard to make the most of life. I am incredibly proud of her.

We made dessert too. Duh.

She thinks Reid is pretty cute and just like Peety, Reid thinks she's awesome. Sky had a pretty rough week. Her niece, who was just about a year and a half old, died over Labor Day weekend. =( It's a very tough situation and the baby was not her first niece to die suddenly. My heart has been breaking for the entire family. I hate that a life was lost and I hate that Sky, at a young age, has already known so much hurt and disappointment.

Sunday, we went to church, did some house/photo work, I went on a Sonic date with Heather and Kayla, and then later that evening went to our new Bible study. I really enjoyed it. I think I'm going to learn a lot!

I've started back to Zumba this week. I go first thing in the morning. It makes things a bit hectic but evenings just aren't really an option right now. I hurt... bad... but I really do enjoy it and it feels good to be back at it. And I still get some evening time with this little lovey. =)

We also lost a staple of our church family last week. It was sudden but Jack had lived a long, good life. It's so strange to attend a funeral for someone like that. Someone you know well but still have seen only a glimpse of their life. He lived a whole life before we knew him and we've known him our whole lives. Ornery man. It was a beautiful service. I made this pumpkin spice cake and cream cheese frosting all from scratch for the family's dinner. I really do enjoy baking and hate that I don't have/make more time for it.

Amidst all the important things going on in the world like families losing loved ones, chemical attacks and potential war with Syria, the anniversary of 9/11, and the Sports Illustrated allegations about OSU's football program, I take this minute to brief you on my hair.

I am still embracing it in it's natural form. I'm seeing some improvement but still a ways to go! I think a haircut would certainly help.

We went for a walk last night. It was nice to actually talk. Life has been so dang busy it's been hard to fit that in. Little dude enjoyed himself.

Other Random Info:

• I am very in tune with the music of 1997. It sounds weird (and I suppose it is) but if a song comes on and it came out in 1997, I can tell you that. 
• Reid's toes are starting to uncurl. =/ I suppose he's preparing to walk. He's been stepping around furniture for a while now. Would you just look at that little giant?

About Me: Legitimate Fears

In case you missed it, I recently started a little "About Me" series. I'm working through a list of things I want my kids to know about me. I thought it was sort of a cool getting-to-know-you project and would also be nice for this scrapbook that Reid will eventually look through.

Here's what I've done so far:

1. List 20 random facts about yourself.

2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears (graphic version)

Oh fears. I have a slew of them. =) I'm a big scaredy cat. I'll try to narrow it down to 3 - none of which are necessarily legitimate per se.

1) Fear Itself: This is probably the biggest of all. I have no real experience to tie to it or anything. I'm just scared of being scared. I dread staying home alone or walking in the dark because I hate the feeling of fear. I always know I'm going to be scared. I try to not even put myself in the position to feel scared. How ridiculous am I looking to you right about now?! Don't answer that. Moving on...

2) The Bad Guy: Ah yes. The big kahuna. I'm afraid of the bad guy. You know - the one that is standing over you with a knife when you wake up in the middle of the night, or the one that's waiting in the backseat of your car when you get into it first thing in the dark morning, or the one that breaks in your house while you're watching a freaky episode of Criminal Minds alone at night. Yep, that's the one. I think I may have just given you a glimpse into the "why" of this fear. =) I, thankfully, have no real first hand experience to cause such a fear but when you're me, who needs a real reason? It may have started as a kid when Jonbenet Ramsey was killed. She was in pageants and so was I (there's another random fact for ya). That made us alike and if it could happen to her, it could happen to me. I watch too much news now and apparently did back then too. I also watch too many crime shows. I don't know why I do that to myself except that I love them. Anyway, when I was in middle school/high school, The Profiler was on TV. I watched it and thus the fear of serial killers was born. Criminal Minds only confirmed that fear. Over and over and over again. 

3) Not Living God's Plan: I think this one is scary because I don't yet know what that plan is! How can I possibly do it if I don't know what it is!? Still, I feel like I'm failing. I know some people may not know that plan until they're 102... some may not know until they meet Him in Heaven. But what if I should already know and I missed the memo? What if I've wandered way off course and don't even know? Oy. That's a brain full. 

So there you have it! My legitimately illegitimate fears. =)

More 9-Month Fun

Here's a few 9-month shots I snapped in about 10 minutes. It really is kind of sad my child doesn't get a full, legitimate session. 

I incorporated the bucket because we use it to store some toys in our family room. He loves to pull it over and dump the toys out, pull up on it, beat on it like a drum... =) It's all-purpose.

He's a teensy bit ornery.

He gets real proud of himself when he makes music...

He's standing now...

And waving...

He opens his mouth real big to smile and giggles with everyone.

He started sleeping with a muslin blanket and loves to hold a corner in his hand.

He spends way too much time looking like a little big kid these days.

He no longer inhales crib paint. Win!

He's still teething like crazy. Tooth #8 is just about through.

He seriously chews constantly. Some of my favorite kid pictures are the ones taken with a wide-angle lens in their face.

I simply can't resist this guy.

He moves so fast!!

He can't be contained.

He enjoys flipping through books and playing cars (banging cars together)

He is SO sweet and SO ornery.

He smiles with his whole body.

He is perfect to me.

Midweek Randoms

Thursday - Reid's last night as an 8-month old. =) He was sportin' a brand new stretchie since he outgrew most of his others.

 Little booger.

We bought some teething guards for his crib since he was scraping all the paint off them. =/

Reid had baby spaghetti for the first time. It smelled like spaghetti o's which kind of made me want to puke but I digress... he seemed to like it.

Friday, I second shot a wedding in Wichita with my friend Jennifer. The wedding was outside and Lord have mercy it was warm one! Aside from the sweat and blisters I ended up with, it was a perfect wedding. I had a lot of fun too. I enjoyed working with Jennifer and to be honest, it was kind of relaxing to not be in charge. =) Oh and the wedding was beautiful too! I SO missed my boy though. That was the longest I'd gone without seeing him. I hugged him before Dac took him to daycare that day (I took the day off) and didn't get to see him until the next morning.

Saturday I took a few pictures for Reid's 9-month session. Kayla went with me then we went to Wal-Mart to get blister pads (ha) and wedding shower gifts. That evening Dac and I got a wild hair to make cheese dip and little smokies so we ran to the store and did just that. =)

This is the adorable little monster Kelly made him. Reid kinda loves it.

That evening I was feeding Reid his bottle and he just fell asleep. So, of course, I just had to let him sleep there for a bit. ;)

I love when he lets me steal some cuddles AND when he holds my hand.

I did finally put him to bed and he woke up like this. =) Love it.

I mentioned that I was going to start embracing the natural s'wave in my hair and making it work. SO - I ordered this to try.

I followed the instructions and even dried my hair with an old t-shirt.

 
Day 1 looked a little like this:

I'm hoping the wave will only increase over time.

So - we went to church and then to our cousin Daric's wedding shower right after. Then we joined some family friends for lunch to celebrate a birthday.

After Reid's nap we headed to Heather's 30th birthday party. It was a Hawaiian-themed pool party. Lots of fun to catch up with old friends.

Monday, we took a few more pictures of Reid and did stuff around the house before going to my parents' for a cookout that evening. Reid got to meet Heidi which was kind of a big deal. =) We had a nice, relaxing time!

Yesterday Dac worked late (that's the new normal) and then we went to meet potential wedding clients.

Other random tidbits include:

• You know you have a West Wing problem when you start confusing West Wing events with real world events. 

• I reeeeallly need to do something with my toes. I got a shellac pedicure last time which means I can't take the polish off with regular remover and I don't have any acetone remover and of course I keep forgetting to buy some... then there's the whole taking time to do it issue. It's a serious situation people. =)

• I need to start thinking of ideas for Reid's 1-year photos. I feel like I've been very uncreative so far and his pictures haven't been anything particularly amazing. I also need to figure out what to wear for our family session next month. Ay yi yi, time is flying!!

Month 9

Dear Reid,

Have I mentioned how much we love you? Yeah? I'll mention it again anyway. We love you. Not just your Dad and I, but LOTS of people. You are one loved little man. Don't forget that.

We pretty well knew from day one you were going to be a mover. You've always been so busy and everyday becomes a little more so. You now pull-up, stand, cruise around furniture. You still army crawl fast as a speeding bullet too. These changes make you look like such a big boy. The newborn Reid is out (mostly) and the almost toddler is in. You're constantly moving and are becoming more vocal. You're sure to let us know if you're displeased which isn't nearly as often as you're happy. Thank goodness! 

With all your new activity has come some falls, bruises, and a few crocodile tears. Oh how you make me nervous. It breaks my heart to see you hurt but I know it has to happen. You have to fall to learn to get back up. You're learning that and are super resilient. You've also been learning to sit down once you're up. This is new because for a while you would just stand until we saved you or you fell over. Now you sloooooowly squat way down - as far as you can while still holding on - before finally dropping the rest of the way. It's hilarious to watch. You're so dang determined (and cute). This same principle is what we've based all our parenting decisions on. We always want you to feel loved and have comfort in that but we also want you to be independent and able to help yourself succeed. It's hard to find the right balance but know that we're trying our very best to give you the best of both worlds.

A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of holding you while you slept. One minute you were awake and the next you were conked out in my arms just like our first days home... only you take up much more of my lap these days... and I loved it. I held you and studied your face, your little hands... your feet. So much has changed but so many things are the same. I guess those things are the "you" things that might always be there. You still have the same expression on your face when you sleep as you did the first day we met. Those "you" things bring me some comfort amongst all the changes... the changes I'm sure I'll notice more of as we move closer to your first birthday.

For now I'll continue to enjoy the new and the old while pretending that birthday is forever away still. =)

Love you,

Mama

Highlights:

• You added a few new food flavors to your palette, including: watermelon and tomato, (neither of which you were super fond of but maybe it was the texture; watermelon was also your first real finger food besides puffs) yogurt, pineapple, freeze-dried yogurt bites and spinach. You also started having some pureed meals... stuff like chicken and sweet potato, turkey dinner, country beef and veggies (not a fan). You tried cut up bananas and weren't impressed. You like the taste of bananas so it must just be the texture or the fact that it was bigger pieces. You gagged. Drama.

• You spent some time with Aunt Darla and Uncle Darin while Connie was on vacation.

• You managed to avoid a stomach bug even after being exposed to it by tons of people... including several of your daycare buddies. I hope you keep that immune system.

• You still loved making noise and treating everything like a drum.

• You wore size 3-4 diapers.

• You wore 9-12 and 12-month clothes... even wore a few 12-18 month PJ's.

• You got another tooth... a bicuspid. That's 7 teeth mister. There's still a few just riiiight there.

• You endured another wonder week... it was pretty rough at times but it sure was cool to see you learn so many new things.

• You started pulling up and standing on your own. One morning, at just over 8 months, you got up on your knees. Later that afternoon you stood all the way up. That turned into pulling up and standing constantly. You went through a phase of practicing standing in your crib for up to 45 minutes before falling asleep for naps and at bedtime. Oh and let's not forget all the chewing you did on your crib rails.

• A couple days later you were up on your knees thinking about standing without holding on to anything. You didn't do it... but you sure were testing the waters.

• You continued to army crawl as fast as you could around the house and you when you hold still long enough (rarely ever) you sit like a little champ now.

• You really started to hold your bottle more. You also started really  biting at the nipple. I'm certain had we been able to nurse, we'd be done by now due to your death bite. =)

• You continued to drink a 6oz bottle at 6 a.m., 9 a.m., and 3 p.m. You continued eating solids for supper and switched to solids at lunchtime too. You drank a bedtime bottle around 7 - 7:15 p.m. and went to bed between 7:45 and 8.

• I still offered you water in a sippy cup occasionally, but you rarely drank much from it. You mostly just wanted to chew on the cup.

• You still thought Peety was the funniest thing on the planet. 

• You waved for the first time - the sweetest little dainty wave. =) 

• You crawled (real crawling) for the first time the evening of August 22 - during Wii Night.

• You started to share. You offered up your pacifier. That is proof of the loving heart you have, that you'd be willing to share something so important. =) Keep that, little dude.

• You got your first bloody lip =( and your first little bruise/welt by your eye. A product of your constant determination to stand and move.