Embrace the Camera: October 28

I know you're shocked. Three posts in three days. What can I say, I wanted to get the Bear's 9 month pics and new tricks up for everyone to see. And I couldn't miss out on Embrace the Camera.

I didn't do this one tonight (surprise!) This is one Danny took last week. Again, one of these days I'll get it done ahead of time and it'll be a really great pic. But until then, this is life.

We've got a busy weekend coming up. I'm helping to throw a baby shower

Saturday morning (thank God it's not at my house). Remind me to tell you about making punch. What an adventure! Then I'm taking pics of a friend's kids. She wants to use one of these pics for her Christmas card. No pressure. Ha ha. This will be the first time I've done pictures of kids (that aren't mine.) Anyway, hope I can get at least a few good ones for her. This is good practice for me and without practice I can't get any better or get comfortable doing pictures for other people. But still. Saturday night I'm supposed to stop by a wedding reception (they got married in Vegas a few weeks ago. They planned to get married there. It wasn't a drunken spontaneous thing.) We're also taking the Bear "trick or treating" that night. When I say trick or treating, I mean he's going to knock on a few doors of people related to us. Not strangers in the neighborhood. Although I'm pretty sure Danny and I could eat a few fun sized Snickers and Butterfingers. Hmmm...I'll have to think on that, maybe we'll knock on doors after all.

Have a happy Friday! I'll post pics of the Bear in his costume soon. You're gonna love it!

At 9 Months...

The Bear turned 9 months on Monday. It's hard to believe that time is going by as quickly as it has and I'm doing another one of these posts. He is as happy as ever and is doing great tricks.

At 9 months you...
-have found other people's ears and noses.
-commando crawl.
-get up on all fours and rock. You'll even move your hands and knees forward a time or two before dropping back down on your belly and commando crawling again. I think you do this because you're so much faster when you commando crawl.
-pull up to standing without help (including in your crib).
-go from sitting to crawling and on your belly to sitting.
-clap.
-give high fives (though I think it's just hitting hands, not so much a high five).
-have started reaching and leaning when you want someone to take you from somebody else.
-look at Mommy/Daddy when asked "Where's Mommy/Daddy?"
-cry when I leave you at daycare in the mornings.
-love to eat!
-have added chicken and brown rice, sweet pea turkey wild rice, blended fruits and oatmeal, beef carrots and corn, and vegetable turkey dinner to your diet. But your favorite is chocolate syrup. (I hate to give this to you, but it's the only way you'll take your antibiotics without a fight.)
-feed yourself finger foods like mum mums, sweet potato puffs, veggie puffs/crunchies, and biter biscuits.
-hate to get dressed, especially your shirt. You hate for it to go over your head.
-found out you have to get tubes in your ears. You've had double ear infections for about two months and four rounds of antibiotics haven't done a thing.
-have started getting your two top front teeth in.
-are still learning to use a sippy cup. You don't like it when we try to help you use it.
-love to play at your workbench.
-don't like it when we take things away from you. It makes you mad!
-poke and pick at things with one or two fingers instead of your whole hand.


Sitting up by himself is easy peasy these days.


He's getting so big! We took his four month pics on this blanket his Aunt Marci made him and he was so much smaller.


It's hard to keep him in one place for very long. Once he's on his belly he's ready to motor away!

I'm sure I'll say the same thing every time I post what he's doing this month "He's getting so big. Time is going by so fast." But it's true. When I got him up this morning he looked bigger than he did when I put him to bed last night. How is that possible? He's changing all the time and each stage is more fun than the last. He explores more and more of the world around him all the time. He wants to know what's going on all the time. He cranes his little neck to see around me or a corner if he thinks he's missing out on something. These are good times.

Hope everyone is having a great week. Tune in tomorrow for Embrace the Camera!

Laughing at Myself -or- Nine to Shine is Nakie Time

I have to laugh at myself sometimes. Ok, I have to laugh at myself a lot. There are days when I should cackle all day like the village idiot because I do so many goofy things. When I really have to laugh at myself is when I do something and think, "Wow! I am so clever!"

I am tired of picking up toys and sippy cups when the Bear drops them while he's in his high chair or stroller. I don't like the idea of them being on the dirty floor or ground but it also becomes very tiresome and occasionally frustrating. For example, when we were at the fair a few weeks ago he kept dropping his peacock. (SOOO cute, you've got to see it. His name is Jacques the Peacock. Super colorful and makes all kinds of squeaks and rattles. The Bear loves him.) Now, I try not to be a germaphobe new mom, but the fair isn't winning any awards for cleanliness. They've got animals (and their poo) and a kajillion people that stomp through there everyday. You don't really want him mouthing on it after it's been on the ground. He doesn't throw things yet but he drops them a lot and I know the throwing days are coming. So, because of all this I knew we needed one of those leashes for sippy cups and toys that I had seen at the store so it wouldn't roll around in all that stanky nastiness. When I saw these sippy cup leashes at the store I thought to myself, "Why pay $12 for that? I can make that!" These words..."I can make that"...are often my undoing. (Ask anyone about the @#!%*$ hutch on my front porch.) It typically means I buy the stuff to make it and put it on my to do list that never gets to done. Well, this time it did get to done...

Now, before you ask what all the fuss is about, let me just say that I used my sewing machine to do this. (Write that down, hubby!) Not only that, but I sewed on elastic AND velcro. A first for me! I made one with velcro so we could loop it around a toy and one with elastic to fit snugly around his sippy cup. (We won't talk about how the first time the Bear dropped his sippy cup it promptly slid out of the elastic and dropped onto the floor. It landed on its bottom and hasn't slid out again since. Go fig.) I'm good with instant gratification projects like this. It was quick. (Seriously, like 10 minutes. Probably would have been faster if my sewing machine wasn't so out of practice.) I got the tutorial for it here. Yes, I am so re-re when it comes to this stuff that I need a tutorial for something so simple. That and I figure someone has already worked out the bugs, why reinvent the wheel?

And when the fabulous sippy cup leashes were done, I smiled smugly to myself and thought, "I'm so clever." At which point I had to began laughing at myself. I had to gently and sweetly remind myself that I didn't come up with this idea. It didn't take me several tries to figure out the best materials to use...velcro or elastic, etc. I googled what I wanted and BAM! Someone had already done it. I wasn't so clever, I just know how to use the internet. Still, I did allow myself to pat myself on the back for turning the sewing machine on and using it. (After a little troubleshooting help from Mom. Thanks Mom!) And I actually finished something. Wow, another something finished. I better watch out, I'm making that a habit.

Okay, now that you've suffered through my monologue I'll get on to the real reason anyone reads this blog to start with. The Bear.

Why, yes, that is a naked bottom you see. We've been fighting a raging case of diaper rash because of antibiotics. He was letting it all hang out for a while. He likes being nakie (and dumping all of his toys out of the bucket).

Here he is up on all fours. This is a fairly new trick. He'll move his hands and knees forward a time or two before dropping back down onto his belly and commando crawling. And see? He's not completely naked. He's wearing socks. Man, he's gonna kill me for these pics one day.

Just an update...after four rounds of antibiotics that didn't work to clear up the double ear infections our pediatrician sent us to an ENT. We had that appointment yesterday and the ENT says he needs tubes. We pretty much knew that was what he was going to say, but we're still not excited about him having to be put to sleep. The surgery is scheduled for next Thursday. Say a prayer for us. I know everything will be fine, but we were hoping to avoid this. But what else can you do? He's had ear infections for two months. We're pretty much out of options.

Hope everyone has a super week. We're getting geared up for the Bear's first Halloween! You're gonna love his costume...so cute. He turned 9 months yesterday so later this week I'll post his monthly pics and what new stuff he's doing. And Embrace the Camera is Thursday. Y'all come back now. Ya hear?

Embrace the Camera: October 21

Hello! Sorry about the weeklong hiatus. No excuses really, just life. The Bear started doing a TON of new things this week. Especially last weekend. It's like he decided to hit all his milestones at one time rather than space them out. He started pulling up on his own last weekend. He could do it with a little help, but while I was gone Saturday night Daddy said he started doing it all on his own. This is what I found when I went to get him up Sunday morning...

Isn't that the cutest? He's pulled up like crazy all week. He's wearing me out! There are already little teeth marks on the railing. He's getting his top teeth in now. He did some other stuff too but we'll save it for his monthly birthday post. Next week, can you believe it?

I also wanted to share a pic of him and his favorite toy. This is his workbench. He's a hard workin' man. This is the best $25 I've ever spent. Period. Don't you love those cheeks? They're almost more like jowls in this picture.

And now for the weekly Embrace the Camera shot. Daddy graciously took a some pics of us this evening, but I liked this one better. See...I took some tonight because I didn't think I had any. Again, procrastination. At least I'm consistent.

I try to add the button for Embrace the Camera every week but can't get it to work. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. If you've got advice on how you think I can fix it (or dummy instructions just in case I'm not doing it right to start with) please lemme know in the comments. And go check out other moms gettin' their picture on here.

The Bear and I hope you have a lovely day tomorrow. We'll try and get something posted this weekend. I've started several posts, but have yet to finish them. Much like so many other things in my life... Eh, it's good.

Embrace the Camera: October 14

Time for the latest installment of Embrace the Camera. I don't know why I always wait for Thursday night to take our picture, it results in me looking like a mess and pictures that I don't just love. I know this happens on Thursday. Why not do a little planning and take the picture early in the week or over the weekend? That way if he would rather play with the duck than sit still and take a picture with Mommy, it's no big deal. Try again later. But we don't do it like that. I wait until 8 pm (when I should be putting him in bed) so that I can post it that night after I put him to bed. Oh yeeeaaaah...now I remember why I don't do it before! I wait until the last minute to do everything! Hello. My name is Lauren and I am a procrastinator. They say the first step to recovery is admittance. I admitted this a long time ago and I'm still a procrastinator. Guess they should've said something about a second step.

While thinking about why I wait until so late to do this, I had an epiphany. This is the point of Embrace the Camera. It's supposed to be what you look like and do in real life. Day in and day out. If it was about having your hair and make-up just right with fantastic lighting, I could go to the studio and have our pictures professionally taken. Which is always great, but it's not real life. In real life, I never wear make-up. I usually straighten my hair, but not always. Either way, it ends up in a pony tail or clip of some kind when I get home from work. I change into a t-shirt and pajama pants too. And I procrastinate. That's real life. That's our life right now. One day I hope to welcome my family home to a perfectly clean house with dinner on the table while wearing a dress, perfectly spotless apron, heels, and pearls. But, alas, not at this time of our lives. I'm doing good to cook dinner, much less the other stuff.

So, maybe one day I'll look decent for an Embrace the Camera post. One day, I'll get my act together and do it before so that it's a picture I'm really proud of. And that will be the picture we look back on one day and I tell Bear, "That one...that one took me all day to get. I combed both our hair, put us both in beautiful outfits. That one was work." But it won't be my favorite. It'll be too posed, too perfect, too planned to really be us.

I didn't ask him, but I thought it would be fun for Daddy to Embrace the Camera as well...

The Bear doesn't normally lay his head on your shoulder. Typically he has to see what's going on all over the room. But he's been doing it a little lately and it always tugs at my heart.

I tried without success to put the Embrace the Camera button on here. It is very frustrating when I don't understand technology. I can copy the code but not paste it, go figure. So go here to check out the gal who originated Embrace the Camera. She isn't hosting her usual Embrace the Camera because she has something MUCH bigger going on over there this week.

Emily and her family are in the process of adopting a little girl from Africa. As I'm sure you know, this is a very costly process. She's doing a very cool fundraiser that she's calling Share the Love. There are five bundles that you can put in for. Go check it out and buy an entry to win some very cool stuff. Worse case scenario: you don't win, but you've helped a family bring their child home. Best case scenario: you win and help a family bring home their child. Win-win. Good stuff.

That's a wrap! Meet you back here this weekend!

Firsts

The Bear did a few new things this weekend. It is always so sweet when I catch him doing something new. I run to my planner and write it down on the date that he did it and how it happened. Well, sometimes I run right to the planner. I try to anyway. I don't want to let these things slip by me. I also have to write down the foods he tries every couple of days. He's eating so much now, it's hard to keep up!

Anyway...Daddy, Bear and I were sitting in the living room Sunday morning. Every so often I'll ask the Bear, "Where's Daddy? Where's Mommy?" Usually he just looks around and continues playing while I point and say "There's Daddy/Mommy" and make a big deal. But today...today was different. I asked him "Where's Daddy?" He looked at me like he was processing what I had asked him. *blink, blink* Turned to his Daddy and smiled the biggest grin. We made a big fuss while he continued to smile and silently pat himself on the back. I asked him "Where's Mommy?" at which point he turned to me and gave me a big smile. This was one of those times that I can still close my eyes and see his face at that moment. It was the first time that I knew he really understood what I was saying to him. Wow. He picks up some of what I blather on about all day long. Uhh-mazing!

Alright, the other first this weekend. The fair! I was so excited about taking him this year. I have so many fun memories of going to the fair growing up. A different fair, but still fun. Riding rides. Eating cotton candy. Seeing animals. Playing games. The lights blinking and twinkling like stars. The sounds of carnies yelling at you to come play their rigged games. The smells of various meats on a stick frying in tired, reused grease. Mmm...one of my favorite events of the year. I love the fair. My husband hates it. (What he really hates is living in a town that hosts a fair. Traffic is terrible. Grocery stores are terrible. People from out of town infesting your hometown. I agree with all of this but I still love the fair.) My son will also love the fair. I have decided.

Anyway, it was an overall success. We planned and timed it perfectly. Shortly after his morning nap but I wanted to be home by the time it got dark. He's had a constant ear infection for the past month+ so I didn't want him out in the cool night air. (BTW, we go this week for another follow up about his ears. Say a prayer that it's cleared up. Otherwise, they want to do tubes. Yuck.) The only thing I didn't plan on was it being so hot and him getting thirsty. I took food, but no bottles. He got his water by me dripping it from a straw into his mouth (little birdie style) from a $3 bottle of water. (Highway robbery)

He saw rabbits. Which didn't impress him, by the way.

He rode a tractor with his Papa.

He sat on a fence like a real countryboy and watched horses.

And then he fell asleep on the way to the car.

We had a lot of fun. I'm already looking forward to taking him next year when he can be really excited about all that's going on. And ride exciting rides like the Crazy Bus and the flying Dumbos. Wow...having kids is fun!

At 8 months...

Alright, as promised...today features pics of a seriously cute baby.

"Look at my teefies...I'm almost ready for a cheese burger!"

"I'm such a big boy that I can sit up all by myself and wave at you at the same time."

"Sticking my tongue out at my Daddy. I can get away with that right now."

And now for his list of amazing tricks. At 8 months you...

-commando crawl everywhere! I can't keep up!

-have two bottom teeth that have come in really good.

-eat bananas, apples, pears, carrots, squash, peas, apple butternut squash, sweet potatos, green beans, and prunes.

-have used a sippy cup but mainly just sling it around and bang it on your highchair.

-chatter a lot.

-sit up unsupported. You have to be put in sitting but can go from sitting to laying on your belly to crawl. You can't go from laying to sitting up though.

-have started sleeping through the night again. As long as you eat a huge bowl of fruit and rice cereal about an hour before bed.

-still smile when you see us. You also flirt and laugh when we smile and laugh at you.

-have found Mommy and Daddy's ears. You try to turn our heads (by pushing our faces HARD) when you want to look at our ears. You poke at them and open/close your hand over them.

-still love peek-a-boo.

-are still very ticklish on your ribs, back and thighs.

-sometimes laugh for no reason, just looking at Mommy and Daddy smiling at you.

-give Mommy lots of kisses. Especially in the mornings or when you haven't seen me in a little while.

-have started turning away when you don't want to go to someone who wants to hold you.

-love your Alabama rattle.

He gets bigger all the time. It seems more and more often that I sit down to make the monthly list of what he's doing and take his picture for the month. He's getting a little more personality all the time and I'm always amazed at how much he's already figured out. I keep waiting for time to slow down so I can enjoy him a little longer, but the days keep running by me.

Today is mine and Papa Bear's anniversary...Happy Anniversary, Baby! Five years...where did that time go? Looking forward to at least 50 more. Love you!

Anyway, have a great weekend. We're going to the fair, celebrating Papa Bear's birthday with his family, and hoping to watch a little Alabama football. Roll Tide!

Embrace the Camera: October 7

I missed it last week and am late today, but here it is...another edition of Embrace the Camera. It isn't glamourous, but it's me in my usual after-work uniform. T-shirt and hair in a pony-tail. Definately not something I should share with the internet. Oh, well...without further ado...



He's such a happy bear. Go check out some other moms Embracing the Camera. It's fun! I couldn't get my computer to copy and paste the code for the button, so click here to check it out.

Come back tomorrow for a really great post...the Bear's 8 month pics and list of new tricks! I know you're dying to see his adorableness again!

Finishing Something {For Once}

I always have about 83 projects in the works. Unfortunately, I don't ever seem to finish many of them. This post is about one such project. I got the materials to do this project about 3 weeks before I had the Bear. I had seen a picture of some shelves that I thought would go great in his beachy nursery. Since he just turned 8 months, I figured it was time to finish his nursery. Here are his finished shelves. I'll post more pics of his room once I get his closet doors back up.

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I'd really like to have a conch shell to put on them but haven't found one yet. Lemme know if you know where I can get my hands on one! Lets here it for one thing crossed off the to do list! Latest pics of the Bear and what he's doing these days later this week. Promise!

Happy {Belated} Birthday!

My wonderful husband turned 29 this past Saturday. Unfortunately he was out of town, so we celebrated on Sunday instead. I thought all last week about doing this for his birthday, but the day got away from me. So, in my usual fashion, I am late... But I'd still like to tell my husband 29 reasons I love him. On his birthday and everyday. These are in no particular order.

29. You aren't afraid of a dirty diaper. You don't like them, but you aren't scared of them.

28. You aren't afraid of hard work either. You work hard at your job and you do it well.

27. You think the Bear always deserves a new toy. You want him to have the best of everything.

26. You don't mind going with the flow.

25. Or sticking to a schedule. Whatever works.

24. You tell me what I need to hear even if I don't want to hear it.

23. You love to hear the Bear laugh and do anything possible to make him laugh.
22. You do your fair share in helping with the bedtime routine. You feed him, wipe him up, give him his meds. This helps me tremendously in getting ready for the next day.

21. You always ask how my day was.

20. You encourage me to get out and do things that don't involve the Bear.

19. You get up with us on weekend mornings even when I try to let you sleep in. I'd like for you to sleep but I'm always ready to start our day as a family.

18. You give good hugs.

17. You make me laugh at myself.

16. You are so excited about sharing your hobbies with the Bear.

15. You know every one of my flaws. And love me anyway.

14. You work really hard to be a good Daddy and husband.

13. You love your cowboy boots.

12. You don't mind that I come home and go straight into my pj's. Or that "going out" these days means little more than jeans and a clean t-shirt.

11. But you always compliment me when I make an effort to look nice.

10. You have loved me since the dawn of time (well, high school feels like it was that long ago).

9. You are crazy about the Bear.

8. You get as excited as I do about new things he does.

7. You worry about things so that I don't have to.

6. You are passionate about the things you love to do. Fishing is as essential as breathing for you.

5. Because you love the outdoors so much, you join causes to protect it.

4. You are proud to be an American. You are always up on current events and politics so that you can do as much as possible to make your voice heard.

3. You always do the right thing and expect others to do the same.

2. You are a good man. Plain and simple, you are just a good man.

1. You love your family with everything you have.

We love you, Daddy! The bear and I hope you had a good birthday!