'Stuff About the Weekend'

Brad comes up with catchy titles, doesn't he?

So, stuff about the weekend...

I had to ask Brad to help out on this one as we had a pretty uneventful weekend and this was the response:

'Walked down the trail by the lake, bought a kiddie pool, sat in the kiddie pool...'

Then he trailed off and continued watching 'The Office'. As in the British 'The Office', not the American version that is getting worse by the week.

So, basically Brad's recap said it all. We checked out the new trail by our house that goes along the shore of the lake. Pretty view, but super hot with no shade. I didn't dare bring a camera because John had an odd outfit on and I didn't want to document that for all eternity. Besides, John fell asleep before we even got to the trail so he wouldn't have been all the photogenic.

I took John with me to JoAnn's to buy some fabric for some taggie blankets that I started to make for him and Bella. The ones I made so far turned out pretty dang cute and John loves his crinkle one already! Who knew that sewing in straight lines could produce something so fancy-looking?



We also picked up a kiddie pool for John, making sure it was big enough for me too of course. We broke it in today. It. Was. Amazing. Why didn't we buy one two summers ago? John seemed to enjoy himself after he got used to the cold water. He is perfecting his skill of splashing water everywhere. Apparently he felt he didn't get enough practice in our bathroom at bath time during which he soaks everything in a 5 foot radius.



John also had us laughing pretty hard when we fed him carrots tonight. He must have been famished because he gobbled up those carrots! It was hilarious because he would look at Brad with wide eyes and as soon as he saw the spoon, his mouth dropped open as he waited for the carrots to be shoveled in. He certainly doesn't have the same reaction with his green beens or peas! He ate the entire portion of carrots...what a piggie!

So that about wraps up the weekend. Looking forward to the last week of school and our THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

Couple More Firsts...

What a fun three day weekend! Brad and I got to spend time together just the three of us on Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday! It was so nice to be laid back and relaxed without having to be anywhere at certain times. We took a couple walks with John, went to good ol' Walmart and Kroger, and tried to meet up with Cheryl at the park. We got John all dressed and ready to go for the park (he looked so stylish!) and then when we were about to leave he decided he was hungry (and cranky since he didn't take a nap) so he ended up totally passing out while nursing. So, he ended up sleeping his cute 'park outfit'. Too bad Cher Cher didn't get to see him during her visit to Texas this time around. :(



Then on Monday we went to mom's for Memorial Day and hung out with Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Al, Uncle T, Bella, Auntie Em, Uncle Jer Jer, Melissa, Jeremy, and Madison. We had a lot of fun with all the babies although it was chaos as usual!

So John had two more 'firsts' this weekend. He had his first taste of vegetables on Saturday. We started off with green beans and he actually like them! What a good little boy!





On Monday John had his first dip in the pool. He didn't seem to mind it most of the time. He didn't like the fountain too much and he didn't like it when Purty ran up to him and licked his face. Other than that, he wasn't too impressed, but looked super cute in his swimsuit, sunglasses, and hat!







Overall it was a great weekend and I am counting down the days until summer!

Sleeping Like a Baby

Let's flashback to 3 months ago. Those were the nights full of frustration of trying to get John to go to sleep. He would yell his cute little head off as we tried to rock him asleep. He would usually fall asleep in our arms and as soon as we put him in the crib he would wake up and start crying again. We were trying so hard to get him to fall asleep on his own without being rocked for fear that he would get used to being rocked to sleep every night and never learn on his own. Yet, the only way we could get him to go to sleep was to be rocked and gently placed in the crib with a pacifier carefully placed in his mouth. I remember getting so annoyed at a lady at work who gasped and said 'OH NO! Never rock him to sleep! Don't do that!'. What else could I do?!?

Then it was as if something clicked. Well, lots of things clicked. John went to daycare (maybe he got super worn out?) and we started a better night time routine that included a bath and a feeding right before he fell asleep. Ever since then we have had almost no problems putting him to sleep. We were still rocking him to sleep but we could easily put him in his crib and he could fall back asleep if he was jostled awake. Nice.

Back to the present. This week has marked new territories. We do our same night time routine- eat around 6, play until 7ish (until he gets antsy), then bath and pjs and bottle. He is in the rocking chair with Brad by 8 at the latest. Brad whistles for a couple minutes to help John get sleepy (Dad calls it John's punishment after hearing Brad in action last weekend!) but then John gets put in his crib even if he isn't sleeping. And get this...HE FALLS ASLEEP ON HIS OWN! We hear him sqirm around, flip onto his stomach and then he falls asleep. It is quite amazing to be honest! When I think about to 3 months ago, I thought this would never happen.

I am so glad that our nights are a million times easier and I am happpy to know we didn't ruin John by rocking him to sleep. In fact, I would rock my next baby to sleep the same way because he/she won't be a baby for long and I don't want to miss out on anything! John barely even likes to be snuggled anymore unless he is sleeping so I actually miss those nights of him sleeping in my arms! ...minus the screaming...

Of course we need a recent picture of John :) Here he is flirting with Jill at Abbie's baby shower yesterday. Everyone loved him...of course.

Why I am In Love with Brad

As I was taking pictures off my camera tonight, I came across one that made me smile...well actually laugh pretty hard...and once again realized why I love Brad so very much. (He may get upset that I am posting this picture but hopefully the nice post will make up for it!). Before bathtime tonight, I decided to take some pictures of John sans clothes. (Let's just ignore the fact that he decided to pee on the bed. Payback for being in so many pictures today??) So I needed a backdrop so all our junk from our bedroom wouldn't be seen. So, as I am taking pictures of John...



...this is what my perfect husband was doing to help out...



Yep. That is Brad under there and he was even so kind as to move left and right as I tried to get the perfect shot of John. It was so funny and I laughed so hard I almost copied John and pee'd my pants.

So my point is this: I love Brad. He is the perfect husband and perfect dad. No matter what I ask of him, he will do it. He is so helpful and supportive at all times and he always makes me happy. I hear people at work complain about their husbands and I just feel sad for them. He cracks me up everyday and we are so content to just hang out in the living room together. I am so lucky to be married to Brad and John is very lucky to have him as a dad. I mean, he converts himself into a human backdrop. What more could you ask for??

I love you poopy! :)

Vogue...

I realized today I hadn't taken pictures of John this week so after work today I held an impromptu photo session with John. I took Alana's advice and switched my camera to continuous and took about a million pictures. Here are some of my favorites. He is getting SO BIG! :) He is much easier to take pictures of now that he can sit up on his own (only rolled backwards once the whole time!!!) and smiles easily. I am sure Alana will get much better pictures tomorrow during the big family picture day!

podcast- take 1

Just Call Me Martha

Here is my latest craft project. (Seriously, Team Craft...when are we meeting again!?!? It was a lonely 2 hours in my kitchen last night!) My friend at work is having a baby in July and her shower is next week. So I made her this super cute tag blanket that I found on one of the oh-so-additing craft blogs. It is small which makes it quite portable. It is also super soft so I think Baby Ashley will like to hold onto it during her naps. John LOVES his soft blanket and holds onto it as he falls alseep in the car or swing and it is so cute seeing him with it! I am sure Ashley will be just as cute and precious with her blanket.

Mother's Day Weekend Adventures

We had quite the busy weekend!

Friday night Brad kicked me out of the house so I could go out with some friends at work. I am glad he 'forced' me to go because I needed to have some fun with my girls! I also got my gossip fill for a while. :) Brad was super sweet and cleaned the house while I was gone so we were ready for Saturday.

Saturday we were up early to feed John and then my parents came over to help plant our front yard. We got a new retaining wall at the end of last summer and we finally were able to plant yesterday. I have been very embarassed to walk up our front steps b/c the yard was so ugly. It looks a million times better but we will still need to plant grass. Maybe next weekend??? Maybe we will also 'inspire' our neighbors to fix up their yards...I can always dream...

After we finished planting the rest of the family headed over to celebrate Brad's belated birthday and mother's day. John and Bella were of course center of attention. John did so well- skipped his nap and didn't get cranky or anything!

This morning Brad and John took me to IHOP for breakfast and then I got to go back to sleep for a couple hours while Brad took care of John. Best Mother's Day gift ever! John also sent me flowers at work this week and gave me a photo album to store the million pictures we have. :) What a sweetie!

Here are some pictures...

Preparing for the family visit:


No one was paying attention to the opening of presents by the time we got to Al! :)


Aunt Allison and Bella:


With Grandpa!



Mother's Day Breakfast:

She's Crafty...He's Messy

I saw a post on how to make a baby gown out of an old t-shirt and decided to give it a try. I whipped it up in about an hour which is why it is not perfect by any means. I think not having wonderful sewing skills could be a possible reason for an imperfect gown, but that is just me! Looking back on it, it may also help if I read the directions as I went instead of just figuring it out as I sewed. I am going to have John wear it tonight...if it fits. It was sitting on the table this morning when I walked by and I realized that John doesn't wear gowns all that often (Brad calls them dresses even though John only wears them to sleep). So I thought I could modify the pattern slightly and make shirts instead! So that will be my next project! If he is going to venture out of the house with it on, I will have to learn how to make nice hems I guess... :)


On a side note, although I have nothing to base this on, I have always though boys are a little more rough and that John would grow up to make a big mess in our house and destroy everything in his path. Well, today marked the first day of destruction. He was playing on the floor and when I looked up he was wrapped around the coffee table leg and playing with the magazines. He pulled a couple down and when I sat him up, he proceeded to rip a couple pages out and put them in his mouth. Must be tasty because it kept him entertained for about 15 minutes!