A Mother...Again

Give-Away Ends Tonight!!

2011-03-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

Hey there!

Just a quick reminder...if you're seeing this post, then you're subscribing to my "old" blog and you need to update your Reader. Because if you were reading my "new" blog, then you'd know all about my give-away...the one that ends tonight...

Come on over and check out the "new" blog and get signed up to win the CSN Stores Gift Card!!

I look forward to seeing you there!

CSN Stores Give-Away!

2011-03-04T09:00:00.001-06:00

Hey there!

I'm just popping in here to tell you to go on over to my new site Little Bitty Things and enter to win the $20 CSN Store gift card Give-Away! Multiple chances to win...so go check it out.

As a side note, the last time I did a give-away for this there were very few entries...so the chances of winning are HIGHER!!!

Check it out!

OK, So I Lied...

2011-03-02T09:00:00.002-06:00

...this changing sites stuff isn't really that easy. You WILL have to update your reader subscription with the new address, I'm so super sorry!

I've tried to make it as easy as possible...on the new site, there's a Subscribe to the Feed orange button that will place all updates in your Google Reader (or other reader of your choice) and I added the Google Friend Connect (how you follow people) button onto my sidebar at the new site. Clicking onto either one of those will get your readers re-directed to the new site.

I'll pop in over here a few times in the next few weeks, dropping little reminders for you to update things...but come on over here and check out the new site! Click on one of those buttons while you're there...since you're there, you know?

Thanks - and sorry for the trouble!

A New Home...

2011-03-01T08:00:00.002-06:00

I might have mentioned it a time or two in passing, but this little blog is making it's big move today. I've loved being A Mother...Again, but I feel like the time has come to make this blog more. Not different, just more.

Being A Mother...Again was perfect while I was pregnant. And it was perfect when I was learning the ropes of motherhood again - refreshing my memory so to speak. But now? Now I feel like there's more to me than being a Mom. I am a Mom, nothing will stop that and nothing can change that...but I'm more too. And as I've dabbled a bit in the design of this blog, I'm constantly frustrated with the limitations that Blogger has...therefore, having my own website and using Wordpress seems to be the best answer for me.

I know that I'm not a niche blogger - I talk about anything and everything that catches my attention...and I hope that you like that. If you do, then you'll experience no change as I make this move. There's not going to be anything different around here...other than a new title. And a new web address. And of course there's a new layout/design...that's one of my favorite parts about making this move to Wordpress! I'm still learning the ropes over there, so the site isn't 100% finished yet, but it's getting there and I just couldn't wait any longer to share it all with you!

Today marks the first day that I'm officially launching Little Bitty Things. Some of my long-time readers (from A Bride...Again) probably recognize that name, as it's the name of my Etsy store. No, I haven't reopened it...but I plan to one of these days - maybe after Jax is a little bit older. Right now my hands are pretty full as it is...but I love that name (for lots of reasons) and decided that it was the perfect name for my new blog. After today, you can find me over there.

If I've done everything right (I'm crossing my fingers and toes that I have!) if you're a current follower/subscriber you won't even notice a difference unless you click out of your Reader. If I haven't done everything right (that's always a possibility) then you might have to re-direct your Reader to my new home. If you need to find me, here's the new web address:

http://www.littlebittythingsblog.com/

I hope to see you there! It's still the same blog, same writer, same stories...just a different name and a new look. Have a great Tuesday, and I'll see you over there!

The World's BEST Baby Shower!

2011-02-28T11:00:00.000-06:00

Do you know what a crappy friend I am? A really bad one...really, really, really bad. I'm that friend who had some of her best buds in the whole wide world throw her a shower (oh, about 9 months ago!) and I have never blogged about it. Yes, there were extenuating health concerns at the time...but that's no excuse! These two lovely ladies threw me one heck of a baby shower and I dropped the ball sharing it all with you...

So in the spirit of "it's better late than never" feast your eyes on the world's best baby shower!

Two of my besties...T and B...spent so much time and effort making this a great weekend for me. Check out the decorations:

The food...

The gift table...with the CUTE homemade clothing-closet tags from B!

The little girls present were busy checking them out...

The guests started to arrive, and I took my seat to welcome most of them...I was pooped by this time!

Before long, the party was hopping, and we started playing some games that B came up with. I LOVE this face that my Mom is making while playing the "Guess which baby food this is game!"

Obviously the baby diaper/candy bar game was a hoot!
I think that I was laughing at Jenna, who actually tasted the baby diapers for her guesses...
Before long, it was time to get to the gifts!

We were blessed with SO much by our friends and family that day! Truly blessed...

Good thing that I had my little helper there!

And then it was MY favorite part of any party...CAKE time!! There's a story behind the cake (isn't there always?!?!) but look at it's gloriousness first, please! The lady who made it copied off of the shower invitations and did a FABULOUS job!

Doesn't it look all yummy! It was white with raspberry filling...I'm hungry now just typing that. Now for the story...If you look closely at the picture above, you'll notice that the bottom right corner is a little...off. To say the least. Well, what happened for sure is still a mystery, but we have two theories. T lives a good bit away from me, in Boerne, TX, and had the cake made by a friend of hers who makes really wonderful, yummy cakes. Because she lives so far away, there was a question about transporting a cake that far. For any of you readers who bake out there, you know that things can happen when transporting baked goods that have icing!

We're not sure if the cake got too hot, which made the icing unstable, or if just the jarring ride brought about the disaster. Either way, by the time that T got the cake to our house, she was nearly in tears (and half frozen for trying to keep the interior of the truck cold!) because the right side of the icing had crumpled and fallen off. B and I assured her that we could repair it somehow (although we weren't really sure how to go about it) and T got on the phone with the cake maker for better suggestions. We eventually went with the toothpick route and before long, it was all shored up and looking better. You can see in this photo how the icing crumpled a bit...

And here you catch one of our hands in the act of the repair...

In the end, I think that we did a good job...check out this close-up of the worst corner...

It all turned out well, and since T and B were going to do the serving, I just told them to cut that side first, removing toothpicks as they go, and no one but us would know the difference! I think that the photos speak for themselves...no one was the wiser, as the taste was PHENOMENAL!!

I just see lots of people eating cake...not complaining about it!

Overall the shower was one of the best parties that I've ever been thrown! All of the thoughtful details and personal touches really made it special...and Brent and I got enough gift cards to go shopping the next day and come home with these important items...

A great party all around...thanks ladies!! There is much love in my heart for you two...despite the lack of posting evidence! :) LOL!

Sleeping Habits of Babies

2011-02-27T08:00:00.001-06:00

It's always a wonder to me. How this baby sleeps through the night from almost birth. How that baby takes regular naps throughout the day until age 4 with no qualms or problems. How some babies can sleep through anything and some startle at the slightest sounds.

Having had two babies of my own now, I know no more than I did with the first one. I thought that I made some mistakes with the first one - I held her ALL the time those first few weeks when she slept so much. She was just too cute to put down! And I thought that made her a bad sleeper, because let me tell you, from then on out she didn't sleep unless you held her. She also didn't sleep through the night until 7 or 8 months...

So this time around, I did my best to not hold my baby boy. And I made sure that the grandmothers who came around and offered me SO much help also didn't hold him all the time...there is plenty of time to spoil him later, not right after birth! I followed all the right steps, rocked him to drowsiness and then put him down to fall asleep on his own, didn't feed him until he was asleep, and for a while I thought that it was helping.

Yet sometime around the 4th month or so, I realized that he wasn't a good sleeper either. Just like his sister. Maybe it's something in my genes. My mom will probably tell you that it's just payback...to say that I was not a good sleeper would be the understatement of the year, if not the century!

So here's my latest question...how can such a horrible little sleeper like Jax sleep right next to my husband on his nights to take him? I ask this because my husband snores like a freight train. A freight train comin' round the bend and all. I can barely sleep next time to him some nights...and have to use ear plugs most of the time.

So how does my little horrible sleeper sleep so soundly next to him?

It's a question that I'll be sure to ask one of these days...I'm sure there's an angel up there somewhere who can answer me!

Sleep Deprivation Can Increase Natural Clumsiness…

2011-02-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

Apparently exhaustion is not only the #2 cause of drunken dressing mishaps…it is also a leading factor in enhancing your natural state of grace. Or in my case, your lack of grace.

Let me enter into evidence my ring finger…

Which was wounded in battle while attempting to drive my car, make a phone call, execute a turn in said vehicle and change the radio station all at the same time. And yes, for a woman that knows that she has problems walking and chewing gum at the same time, I knew going into the situation that it was dicey that all would survive and come out okay. But still I hope for the best.

I’m a woman. We multi-task. It’s what we do.

Some just manage it better than others.

That doesn’t make me less of a woman. It also doesn’t mean that I won’t try it again…probably sometime in the near future.

I’ll just be more careful the next time that I want to hear a different song in the middle of a turn. Apparently those hands free buttons are danger magnets for people like me. Yes a button took a chunk out of my finger. And it bled. A lot. Have I mentioned my intense dislike of the sight of my own blood? It makes me pass out. Good thing that I was safely behind the wheel of my car, huh? (That was sarcasm…)

In order not to be grossed out by the missing chunk of flesh and possibly pass out while eating/showering/driving/sitting at my desk/any-other-number-of-possible-scenarios-of-things-that-I-could-be-doing-when-I-pass-out I grabbed some camouflage. Hence the ugly/cutesy Strawberry Shortcake Band-Aid.

What can I say? I roll in style!

I’m in L-O-V-E…

2011-02-25T08:00:00.001-06:00

…with cloth diapers! Truly, they are much, much, MUCH different than I had pictured in my head, and everything that I “knew” about them was 100% wrong. I’m so glad that I gave them a try! Now I just wish that I could use them all of the time…

I showed off his cute butt the other day but in case you need another dose, here’s how cute he is in his cloth-covered bum:

You know that I was looking for options to avoid nighttime leaking with a heavy wetter. I tried the overnight diapers with mixed results. They leak about 50% of the time when I use them. But the cloth diapers? They haven’t leaked one single time in 6 nights.

Six nights.

No leaks.

That’s pure heaven for this momma.

Not that it means that he’s sleeping through the night – FAR from it! – but at least he’s not waking up ticked off because he’s all wet and I have to strip the screaming baby and the bedding at 2am. He’s apparently waking up to have a “party” in his bed…but that’s a whole other story.

Back to my new-found love for cloth. I really do like using the cloth diapers at night. Now, I will be honest here and tell you that I have yet to have to truly clean up a mess in them because it comes off as soon as he wakes up (it’s full!) so what I do clean is just pee, not poop. And if my day care was cloth-friendly (not something that I was interested in at the time when I searched for our day care) I would seriously consider switching all the way. But they’re not. And I love my day care…so we’ll be a mixed diapering family, I suppose. We’ll cloth diaper at night (and possibly on the weekends if I get some more diapers) for sure and use disposables during the day.

So being new to the cloth scene, I immediately started researching some accessories that I would need. Mainly a wet bag for when we’re out and about and a larger one (or a liner) as a place to put them at the house. I saw some cute stuff. And then decided that I could make my own. I went shopping on my lunch hour, went home and put the kid to bed then got to work on my idea and came up with this loveliness:

Isn’t it just perfect for a little guy? I love the old cars! The tutorial was fairly easy to follow, but there were a few moments when I scratched my head…and I’m still working out the kinks of making the hanging one for the laundry room door…but this one is perfect for now. Perfect for my diaper bag. Perfect for the laundry room floor. Just perfect.

I even went all fancy and lined it with PUL so that it's truly waterproof…

I think that it’s just as nice as one that I could have bought online at a diapering retailer or etsy. Too cute. I’ll post some pictures of the bigger one in action once I get it finished. Maybe tonight. Maybe tomorrow night. Heck, it might even be one night next week…having a husband playing softball one night a week means having one night a week when I don’t have to “pretend” not to be crafting something! Score for both of us!

What do you think? Too cute? (Yes, I understand that I’m fishing for compliments...LOL!)

Sleepless Nights Lead to Drunken Dressing…

2011-02-24T08:00:00.002-06:00

This is just a public service warning to all readers. This is NOT a test. This can actually happen to you…be warned.

So I mentioned the other day that Jax has thrush. And that I wasn’t sleeping. Yeah, not a fun end of the week and weekend for me. Monday morning wasn’t any better…and Tuesday pretty much sucked. But the angels smiled down on me Tuesday and cleared up the majority of the Thrush and my baby boy slept that night.

For the first time in almost a week.

Yes, you read that right. Tuesday night was the first night since last Thursday night that I’ve slept for more than an hour at a time. I’ll kiss the feet of whatever Saint helped me out…seriously. Surely there’s a Saint for Mothers of Young Children? Anyone heard of that?? If there’s not one, then let’s find someone and appoint them…or however that works, let’s make it happen.

Anyway, back to my public service warning.

If you are operating on less than 3 hours of sleep (for the fourth night in a row) then you should maybe, just maybe, take a few extra minutes in the morning as you’re getting ready. Especially during the dressing portion of your morning. That extra minute or two just might save you a world of embarrassment later on during the day. Sure, my embarrassment was for me and my eyes only, but that’s just a fluke. It could have been worse.

Here’s what happened. I rolled out of bed on Tuesday morning, just barely coherent. I was beyond exhausted…tired of life, tired of one sick/fussy baby in particular, and really tired of being the favored parent. It’s not all that it’s cracked up to be, trust me. (I speak from experience. Twice.) I immediately jumped in the shower before the little ~~jerk~~ sweetheart could wake up and demand my attention and managed to get through the showering/brushing teeth process in peace. Amazed at my good luck, I snuck out of the bathroom to find my clothes and rushed back into the bathroom to get dressed.

It would be nice if I was less honest here and I told you that I got dressed in the dark bedroom. That would give me more of an excuse. But I can’t lie. I got dressed in the brightly lit bathroom. But I was still very sleep deprived.

I had black pants, a cutesy top and of course, my bra and underwear. Everything went onto my body in a hurry because I still needed to dry my hair, and if I could also manage to do that without waking the little man…it would really be my lucky day! Color me shocked when all goes according to plan. He sleeps until I actually have two free hands to get him out of bed with and a few minutes to devote to his every whim and fancy.

Let’s fast forward to the afternoon: fix breakfast, take baby to day care, drop big kid off a elementary school, fight traffic, get to work, work on several things and nothing at all at the same time, go to lunch with hubby and come back from lunch.

Whew! Exciting day, huh? Well, sometime around the middle of the afternoon I had to go to the little girl’s room. Yes, I had already been several times throughout the day. No, I didn’t notice anything amiss during the other visits. And I really can’t tell you why this visit was different. Either way, this time when I was in the restroom, I happened to look down (because where else do you look while you’re in the restroom?) and noticed something odd about my underwear.

Yes, it was mine.

No, it wasn’t from the dirty pile.

But…oh wait…yep, it’s on inside out.

Hmmm…what to do now? Change it and flip it right side out after wearing it the wrong way all day long? Or just leave it alone because the work day is almost over anyway and then you’ll be at home…and who really cares if your panties are on inside out at home?

What to take a guess at my course of action? Well, knowing what you know about my energy level on Tuesday I think that you’d be safe to assume that I left those puppies just like they were. They weren’t hurting anything. And you couldn’t tell from the outside of my clothes that my panties were on inside out. Only I knew. And now all of you.

Because we can all use a good laugh every now and then. Go ahead, you can laugh at me. I did, that’s for sure!

I mean, who puts their panties on inside out except for drunk, college girls? Apparently moms who aren’t getting any sleep do! Or better yet – who doesn’t notice until almost 3 o’clock in the afternoon? It’s not like I hadn’t gone to the bathroom 3 or 4 other times that day…I had…and I didn’t notice.

Yeah. That’s when you know you’re tired. That’s when it might be a good idea to try to go to bed a few minutes earlier. Or to wear some ear plugs. Or to suggest to the husband that it’s HIS night on baby duty…any of those options will help you get your panties on correctly the next day.

Then again, I didn’t do any of those things Tuesday night. But you can bet money that I took an extra 30 seconds Wednesday morning to make sure that I had them on right side out this time!! LOL!

What crazy thing have you done when you were going through a sleepy phase? Surely I’m not the only one to have a “wardrobe malfunction” or make cereal with coffee instead of milk or something equally as funny…share with us and we’ll all have a laugh!

New Layouts...

2011-02-23T10:00:00.000-06:00

I haven't shared any new scrapbook layouts recently, but I HAVE been working on them despite my lack of sharing! Here are some of the layouts that I did for our family albums last month...

I've got to "get cracking" on this month's layouts...I have already made one (maybe two, if I decide that I like it) for Jax, but I have NO pictures of the other kiddos! Does that make me a bad mom? Maybe that just makes me a Mom with her hands full...LOL!

A "New" Discovery - PW Actions!

2011-02-22T10:00:00.012-06:00

I know that I'm probably the last person on the face of the Earth to catch onto this...but The Pioneer Woman seriously knows what she's doing when it comes to her Photoshop Actions! I don't know whyti took me so long to clue in on this stuff...seeing as I use Photoshop a few times a week, but I don't know that I'll release another picture that hasn't had an action done to it from here on out...seriously. They're that good.

I can't imagine that anyone's asking this question, but since I only recently asked it myself, maybe there are a few more out there that don't know. That question that you might be asking is: "What's an action?" To put it as simply as I can (because I don't have a lot of technical knowledge backing this up), an action is a pre-determined group of settings that you can "wash" your photos with. Basically you install these actions in your version of Photoshop (or PS Elements), open up your photos in PS, and apply the action to your photo. Depending on the action that you select, you could get a variety of different outcomes. Check out my two new favorite pictures...

Aren't they precious? I mean, I know that Jax is cute (duh!) but aren't the settings cool too? The top one looks like it could have been taken with a vintage Poloroid camera and the bottom one is just the perfect blend of Sepia tones...and I'm completely in love with the PW Boost action...here - click over and see for yourself what I'm talking about. But be warned, you might get hooked too!

The Progression of a Tired Mother...

2011-02-21T13:19:00.000-06:00

This is how I felt yesterday after one restless night of sleep (Friday) and one night of little to no sleep (Saturday)...

And maybe I looked a bit like this...

And that wasn't too terribly bad. But then last night hit. Another night of little to no sleep. Followed by a morning where I had to go to work. Which means that this is what I looked like getting up out of bed...

And here's what I looked like at work today...

Too bad that I don't actually drink coffee. I think that it might have helped me today. The good news I left work at lunch today, which is why there is a post during the middle of the afternoon. Hopefully I'm about to fall into a nice, deep sleep where I get lots and lots of rest...here's to hoping!

Oh, what's that? You want to know why I'm not sleeping. Hmmm...let me sum it up for you...I think that I can do it in 5 words or less. Jax has Thrush. Yep, I managed it in only 3 words - go me! I'll write more about it later...finding images was hard enough...wish me luck sleeping!!

source for images (1, 2, 3, and 4)

Look at that Bum!!

2011-02-19T10:00:00.013-06:00

Oh my, get ready for cute bum overload...

I wrote this post last week asking for some advice from moms out there about how to help Jax stay dry all night long, thinking that part of his sleeping troubles could be related to how quickly he goes through diapers at night.

Thanks to those moms who emailed me with some suggestions, and I want you to know that I acted on them. On all of them.

Yep, you read that right...I hedged my bets, so to speak.

Some suggested trying the overnite style diapers from either Huggies and/or Pampers, while others suggested trying to cloth diaper overnite. Although the overnite diapers were hard to find in an actual store in Jax's size anywhere close to me (I visited 4 stores!), and the cloth diaper world was slightly overwhelming...I managed to get some of each.

I got these overnite diapers...

And these are the cloth diapers that I decided to try...

source for both images

I mean, I figured that since BumGenius has a 30-day trial period where they accept returns (even once worn/used) what did I have to lose?

Since I was able to find the overnite diapers here in town, I used those for a few nights while I waited for the cloth diapers to arrive via mail, plus one additional night spent pre-washing and drying for maximum absorbency. I mean, that's what we were going for, right?

I have to admit that I was skeptical about the overnite Huggies at first. They felt no thicker than normal Huggies, so I was doubtful of the job that they would do. Imagine my surprise when they made it to the feeding/changing time without a leak the first night. Then double that surprise when I got really brave the next night and didn't change it at all...all night long...and his clothes were still dry in the morning. At this point, I was pretty sure that I would be returning the cloth diapers right away.

And then the overnite diapers leaked the night before last. Insert sad face here. I know, I know...there isn't going to be a perfect solution, just something that's better than what I was using is an improvement. Nothing is guaranteed to work all the time, after all. So that's when I decided to give the cloth diapers a turn, and we tried our first cloth diaper last night.

Since I'm tryping this after he's gone to bed, and before he wakes up, I won't actually have an end to this tale for you...but I DO have some cute butt pictures to show you! Man, those cloth diapering moms out there aren't kidding about how cute a butt in a cloth diaper is!!

I just kept patting and patting it...couldn't stop myself! I really hope that they work, because I could totally get used to seeing this right before bedtime each night...

Is there any interest...

2011-02-18T18:00:00.000-06:00

...in me doing some tutorials for how I customized my blog? If you've been here a while, you'll notice that I tend to switch my "look" up every once in while. Since I'm NOT a computer-trained person, just someone who blogs and wanted a more customized look...I went looking for how to do it. I taught myself, and it might not be the best way to do things, but I could share my tips/tricks if there's interest in it.

Just thought that I would put it out there and see. Tutorials like that would probably take some time and energy (which I'm lacking in some days!) so I don't want to put them together unless there's a need. Then again, maybe I could just put together a list of the tutorials that I used to teach myself...that would still be a big help without being as taxing on me as the other.

And just so you know, they'd all be Blogger related for now...I'm probably going to be switching to a self-hosted site using Wordpress soon, but since I'm still learning myself I won't pretend to be able to teach anyone else!

A New "Trick"

2011-02-17T08:00:00.010-06:00

I don't know how your day care works, but mine sends me home with a paper that details how Jax's day went...what he ate, when he ate it, how much he ate, when he slept and what supplies that he might be running low on. It also has a section down at the bottom telling me what skills he worked on or showed off that day.

Two or three days last week, they've marked down that he's gotten up on all fours. We knew that it was coming soon, as he tried repeatedly this past weekend to make his arms and legs lock in the "up" position at the same time and just couldn't manage it. It was just a matter of time, but apparently he likes to show off at day care before he comes home and puts on a show for us...the little jerk. You'd think that the person who spent 12 hours in labor would get to see things first, but apparently not!

I managed to catch it with the camcorder last night and thought that I'd try to share it with you. Enjoy!

*Sorry about the Grey's Anatomy playing soooo loudly in the background! Oops!!

Best Valentine’s Day EVER!

2011-02-16T08:00:00.003-06:00

Oh goodness…it just keeps getting better. No, now don’t start feeling queasy or anything, I’m not about to get mushy. I promise. Although I do love my husband and feel like I’m the luckiest woman in the world, I won’t bore you with all of that. Some guys start V-Day big when you’re first dating and then it falls by the wayside (like other aspects of romance) after you’ve been together for a while. Well, this is the fourth V-Day that Brent and I have spent together…and it just keeps getting better.

Not that he outdid himself. Not that we enjoyed a romantic dinner for two and everything was all hearts and flowers. Here’s what made it special to me…I laughed so hard that I nearly peed in my pants.

Yeah, you read that right. But come on, be honest with yourself…you had to know something like that was coming…this is ME!

I seriously can’t remember the last time that I have laughed as much, as loud, or as long…and my husband made it all possible. Let me tell you about it.

We typically have at least one of the kids on V-Day. Some years, it’s been just T, sometimes just Jenna…very rarely is it just Brent and me. But either way, kids or no kids, Brent goes out of his way to make the night special for me. He always sends me flowers. And he always takes me out to eat. Every single year. And just like the creatures of habit that we tend to be, we always go to the Texas Land & Cattle restaurant. I don’t know why…no, that’s not true. I do know why. It’s one of our favorite restaurants – the food is always good, even if the service lacks a bit…and it’s a little pricier than the normal places that we eat out at (think Chick-Fil-A, Whataburger and Taco Cabana)

So it’s sort of our V-Day place. Rain or shine, cold or hot, kids or no kids, that’s where we go. This year was no different. We knew that we would have Jax and Jenna, so the reservation was made for a party of 3.5. I received flowers, chocolates, a small teddy bear, and a bath set at my office earlier in the day to start the day off right and make me feel special.

We had arranged everything around Jax’s schedule, because let’s be honest here…he’s the most important part of making last night a success or a failure. If he was having a bad night, then we would all have a bad night. And vice versa. Although we didn’t time the commute back to town quite right, and arrived almost an hour before our reservations, we killed some time carefully strolling up and down the aisles of a local grocery store trying to let Jax finish his evening nap. Let’s face it, things go better after a baby gets a nap, right? He woke up right before we were going to walk over to the restaurant and was in a great mood for most of dinner.

I say most, because he’s a baby and he can only be good for so long. Especially not in a high chair when there is so much going on around him. Since it was a busy night, service was a bit slow…which led to a few moments of panic here and there as we wondered if he was fixin’ to start a big scream-fest. I mean come on, if a parent with a small child asks for more bread, do you think that she’s asking for herself? Same goes when she quizzes you about the size of all of your spoons for almost two full minutes, settling on one specific option and has baby food jars on the table…I shouldn’t have to ask twice. You should want to help me keep the peace by providing me with those items right away…but maybe that’s just me.

Either way we had an enjoyable dinner. Everyone got to eat some of their food while it was hot. Jenna only complained a little bit about the “spicy-ness” of her food…problem solved by me trading steaks with her. Jax only started to throw a fit in between jars of baby food when I was trying to snag a few bites of my garlic mashed potatoes. And he only got antsy towards the end of the meal when we were all pretty much done and just waiting for the dessert menu and our bill.

Here’s where the funny parts come in. When he started to fuss a bit, Brent took him out of the high chair and tried to entertain him. Well, it sort of worked. He was entertained up to a point, and then he started to entertain us. At the point when he got tired of Brent’s antics, he started to protest in his baby chatter. When he was ignored he got louder. You see where this is going, right?

He got louder…and louder…and louder. Other people were starting to look around. It wasn’t crying…they were just trying to see what on earth was happening to the child that was babbling so loudly. So to make him be quiet, Brent blew in his face. This had two effects: 1) it did make Jax be quiet momentarily and 2) when he got quiet he was making the most comical face we’ve ever seen him make. Sort of like when babies are first exposed to wind and they freak out a little. Except add in a little “what the hell?” look to it. Less startlement and more “Dude!”. As soon as he recovered because the breath blown in his face was just until he got quiet, the baby chatter came back. Just as loudly as before.

Which triggered another breath to the face. Which was followed by another comical look…you get the pattern, right? Repeat said pattern about a hundred thirty-two times.

Well, pretty soon we (Brent, myself and Jenna) were laughing so hard that the people who had previously been craning their heads around to see what Jax was doing were now looking to see what those crazy fools were laughing so loudly at. And it was contagious. Before long, the table that could see Jax the best was giggling and pointing…and it spread through our entire little area of the restaurant.

Needless to say, we ordered our desserts “To Go” just to make sure that we didn’t overstay our welcome.

And here’s where the peeing in my pants comes in. Keeping in mind that I’m already in a giggly sort of mood from the antics inside the restaurant, we walk outside and head around the back of the restaurant to where we parked. At this point, I ask Brent how his pants were fitting.

Oh wait, let me back up. Remember this post about men losing weight faster than women? Well, it’s still going on. And he forgot his belt yesterday when he went to work, so his pants were…a little…baggy. And by a little, I mean a lot. Think teenage, punk, hipster style…you know the one that I’m talking about…where you purposely wear your best and brightest boxers because everyone’s bound to see them? Got it in your mind? Well, now put my husband’s face on that mental image. And you’ve got the sight that I was walking behind. He’s carrying Jax, I’ve got the diaper bag/purse and Jenna has our leftover bag and in response to my question, he raises his shirt up.

So that I can see that his pants are halfway down his butt, just barely staying up…and his black underwear is showing. Nice. I jokingly tell him that if he’s having such a problem keeping them up then he needs to walk like those young punks that we’re always making fun of walk to keep their pants up.

And. He. Does.

The whole rest of the way to the car.

I had to stop several times for laughing so hard. He’s carrying a baby, walking with his feet spread at least a yard and a half apart, stopping every few feet to yank up his “britches” again…and I lost it. Just way, way, way too funny. I wish that I had thought to snap a picture with my phone!

As I kissed him goodnight that night, I thanked him for the best Valentine’s Day ever. He questioned my sanity for thinking that it was the best one ever, but my answer to him stays the same: “I’ve never laughed so hard and had so much fun on a Valentine’s date before! It was perfect.”

Thanks honey – you’re one in a million!

Update: Worst Phone Call...Ever

2011-02-15T08:00:00.002-06:00

If you need to catch up, click here.

I got some advice from some of my lovely readers the other day, so first up – THANKS! I really appreciated all of you chiming in through comments and emails to help make me feel better and give me some advice on where to go from there.

Now on to the update.

First things first, the actual cut (or spot where he split his head open) was NOT on his eyelid, like originally reported to us. Tanner was pretty out of it that day, and we were getting information from Tanner’s mother. Who, as it turns out, didn’t even leave work to go and take care of this…she just let her Dad handle things, which is pretty typical. So what she was telling us was actually third-hand information and so entirely accurate. He actually busted his head right on his eyebrow bone (if that makes sense) and just the angle of it and all is what caused the ER physician to not be able to do proper stitches. But the butterflies have held, and the patch over his eye is keeping things clean. I believe that he goes back today to get it cleaned up and the patch removed.

Second, his also did strike his face to the side and slightly under the eye, which has given him a nice “raccoon” look and a heck of a shiner! It’s been pretty painful and he told us that he’s 4 different shades of green, blue, purple and yellow right now…at least the yellow indicates some healing, which is about the only good news that he’s got to offer.

As far as his future in sports for the next few months, he’s benched until #1 ) he loses the eye patch and #2) just until the wound above his eye heals enough to get wet and all. So they’re now expecting him to just be out for about two weeks, unlike the initial two months that we heard the other day. Baseball season still looks good, depending of course on how he feels. It shouldn’t be a problem though, and Tanner’s spirits were MUCH improved hearing that!

Now for the school and their reaction. I’m proud to say that the school district has come through and is going to be doing the right thing. The school principal called Tanner’s mother on Friday apologized profusely both for the Coach’s actions/negligence (to which he freely admitted) and for the manner in which the Asst. Principal had handled her call the previous day. He told her that the school was accepting full responsibility for the incident and that not only would they be covering any and ALL of Tanner’s medical bills, but that this was prompting a change in athletic procedure to include a temperature level at which the children should not be performing their athletics outdoors.

Common sense should really have covered that one, but I guess it really must be spelled out in black and white for some people…don’t get me started.

Basically he called to kiss her ass. And kiss it he did. But it got the desired effect; any and all discussions with/about lawyers have stopped. Like I said before, the point was for the school to accept responsibility and do the right thing by paying for the medical bills incurred from this accident. We were sort of worried that once the idea of a possible liability payout hit her brain that she would take that and run with it, because that’s just the type of person that she is. But it seems that she’s satisfied with the bills being covered and is happy with the situation now.

So thanks for all of your help, kind words and general warm fuzzies that you might have sent our way…it worked! I like to report good endings, don’t you?

Calling All Moms! Nighttime help, PLEASE!!!

2011-02-14T12:00:00.000-06:00

dash-dash-dash. dot-dot-dot. dash-dash-dash.

Or is it dot-dot-dot. dash-dash-dash. dot-dot-dot? I can't remember...either way - HELP!

I have a problem. Well, I probably have many problems, but this is one that I think that you can help with. I have a heavy-wetter at night...and I don't know what to do about it. He goes through diapers during the night like they're going out of style, and I'm at my wits end about it all. I think that this could be "part" of the problem with his bad nighttime sleeping habits...he keeps waking up because his diaper has leaked again and who can blame him for being mad about it? Not me!

We use disposable diapers...go ahead, castrate me for it. It's our choice and worked well for me before. Jenna never had these leaking overnight problems. Jax likes the Huggies Little Snugglers/Movers best, and during the day they work fine. But at night? I always have to change him at his nighttime bottle just to try to avoid the mess, but lately he's not even making it until then...the diapers are leaking sooner! At first I thought that it was happening more often because he was growing out of the size 2 diapers...so I moved up to size 3. They work fine during the day, but at night...every single night...they leak on the front since he's a tummy sleeper. And sometimes they leak on the sides when he's snuggled up in his swaddle wrap.

So what should I do? Try a different brand? Try a different style (Huggies makes Snug and Dry vs. the Little Movers)?

The other options that I've looked at are overnight diapers, but I can't find them in a store under a size 4...so that's out. And then today, I was catching up in my Reader and saw this post where she talks about what they do at night...should I try cloth diapering just for the nighttime absorbency tricks that are possible? And if I do go with cloth diapers...where the heck do I start? There are so many options and brands and inserts...I'm truly overwhelmed!

What do you recommend? Surely someone out there has a recommendation...what do you do for your nighttime diaper situation? Thanks for any input you can offer me!!!

Belly Laughs for Valentine's!

2011-02-14T08:00:00.004-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day to all of my readers! I hope that your V-Day is great...and just as a little gift from me to you, here's a quick video that I shot last week of the little man showing off his belly laughs! I hope this helps make Monday a little more bearable! Enjoy!

**I hope the video embed code thingy worked...this is my first time to try and upload a video for you!

“What’s for Dinner?”

2011-02-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

This used to be my LEAST favorite question asked each and every day. I hate, hate, hate deciding what’s for dinner. I thought that I hated this task so much because I don’t like making decisions. But let’s be honest here, to those of you who know me in real life, I love to make decisions. Thrive on it, in fact. I’m in my element deciding when to do what…aren’t all Type-A personalities that way? We might not like to admit that we are, but we are. So that couldn’t be the problem…

Then I decided that my dislike stemmed from the fact that I didn’t know how to cook that many meals. You know, you’ve got a few staple items that you can whip up/out in a heartbeat that are always crowd pleasers, but your repertoire doesn’t consist of more than 3 or 4 meals…and who wants to eat the same thing over and over? But the recipe books that line a corner of my kitchen and an overflowing-stuffed-to-the-gills recipe BINDER suggest that this is not my problem either. (And yes, I tried to argue with myself that most of the recipes are desserts…but then I’d be a big, fat liar on top of everything else!)

Since my first two answers proved that they couldn’t hang under the pressure, I had to look further. And I decided that my problem stems from grocery shopping. Or it starts with grocery shopping…and ends with cleaning up the kitchen. Because let’s be honest, if you have no idea what you’re going to cook for dinner by lunchtime (at the latest) then you’re probably going to have to stop for at least 1-5 items at the grocery store on your way home. Add that on top of picking up a kid or two…getting home through the traffic…preparing the meal…eating said meal…and cleaning it all up and you’re left with – well…nothing. No free time. No time to play on the floor with your baby. No time to help your third grader with her homework. And you’re exhausted by the time bedtime rolls around.

And in my house being too exhausted to even take a bubble bath is something close to sacrilege. Bubble baths are THAT important. Yes, they are. I’ll never believe otherwise.

So now that I’ve put a finger to the problem, I can find a solution. My solution? Meal planning. Yes, I mentioned last week that I’m probably the last person on earth to jump on this particular bandwagon, but dude – it solves so many of my problems.

I have an immediate answer when asked my least favorite question (possibly after a quick glance at my calendar to see what the answer should be!) so I look smarter.

I have a definable list of groceries needed for a full week’s worth of food (or month if you choose to shop that way). No more last minute trips each and every day to my home away from home – HEB. I’m able to make my shopping list by pulling all required recipes out and sitting down to make out my list…I also use more of my coupons this way since I’m not frantically scanning a stack of coupons while pushing my cart down the aisle at HEB. Sure there are last minute things that I still might have to stop and get once a week or so – rotisserie chicken, fresh tortillas, milk (if we run out). But going every single day? Thing of the past.

And I can shop first at my own pantry. No more buying the large can of chicken broth just to get home and find that I had one already at home on the pantry shelf. I make my list, pull my coupons, shop at my house first (crossing items off left and right!) and THEN go to the store.

Last but not least, being the true Type-A personality that I am, I also borrowed this idea from a blog: a shopping list built in the order that you go through the store. Genius! No more “Oh crap! I forgot tomatoes!” when you’re over in the beauty department…don’t ask me why being in the beauty department would remind me that I needed tomatoes. Just trust me that it happens. By making my shopping list out by grocery department/section, I can (and do) easily breeze through HEB in a more organized manner. This takes less time for the shopping, and more time to relax, do something crafty, contemplate a nap or just get down on the floor and play peek-a-boo to hear that belly laugh that’s just starting to come out!

I know that I might be the last one on this meal planning train, but man, I’ve jumped on with both bags packed and am enjoying the ride so far. Even Brent likes the idea, despite the miscommunication where he thought that I said that I bought groceries for the MONTH for $70 last week…I said the week, but he misheard me. No wonder he was excited, huh?

I’ll be sure and keep you posted on how it’s going so far…if you’re interested…but so far, so good!

#48 – Homemade Pizzas – Check!

2011-02-12T10:00:00.000-06:00

Do you love crossing things off of a list as much as I do? I think it comes from my Mom carrying a list around with her for years and watching her get satisfaction out of crossing things off…but that’s just a guess. It could also be my own Type-A personality at it’s best!

This past weekend, I was able to highlight/bold an item off of my 101 in 1001 list, and it felt soooo good! After we picked up all the chitlins from their various pick-up places, we went home to make…

Homemade Pizza!!

I don’t know who was more excited…me, or the kids! In a pinch, I’d say it was me that was the most excited, but that’s just my dorkiness coming out…

I found a recipe for the crust from here that sounded too easy not to try. The recipe for the sauce came from here, and I made it ahead of time since it takes a while to cook down. I assembled the rest of the ingredients, organized my “helpers” and got down to making some pizza crusts. For my first attempt, they weren’t bad…but they weren’t great either…too much like bread, not enough like pizza crust. But still yummy!

Tanner wasn’t interested (read trying to be cooler than most in his 13 year-old angst) in forming his own crust, so I made both his and mine. That was totally fine with me, since that gave me one to “practice” on before making mine! LOL! Jenna was all about making her pizza crust, and Brent got all fancy with some tosses and throws just to show off his skills…

Everyone topped their own pizzas and we got ready to put them in the oven. Right before we slid them in the oven, we took out the breadsticks that I had also made (Recipe found here!) We just used the pizza sauce as a dipping sauce, along with some Ranch, for the breadsticks and viola! we had an appetizer to hold us over while our pizzas cooked. The breadsticks were ah-mazingly delicious, even if I forgot the kosher salt...I think that I'd try this bread as a pizza crust next time, just for grins!

Here’s the final product…mine and Brent's...

Don’t they just look yummy?

Like I said, I want to keep looking for a pizza crust recipe that I like, but the sauce recipe was wonderful…I would agree with her that it might be the best pizza sauce! As a dipping sauce it was a bit spicy (which you could tone down by eliminating some of the crushed red peppers that it calls for), but on the pizza itself no one complained about anything being too spicy. It must have been good, because not much was left on anyone’s plate!

I’d also like to try some pizza cooking tips – like warming my pizza stones first, scary! – the next time that we do this…which will probably be next weekend. We’re big on pizza around here!

"Yum, Yum" Mom!

2011-02-11T18:00:00.000-06:00

Now that Jax has moved onto solid foods, feeding time has become...well, messy is the best way to describe it. I really thinks that he plays with the food more than he actually eats any of the food, but I'm sure that it's still good for him to try, right? We've started putting him in his high chair while we eat and giving him a few table scraps (whatever is safe for him to have).

Then you just sit back and watch the show. Babies are surely entertaining - that's for sure! There's no telling if he's going to attempt to eat the food or just smash it and crumble it all over the place. Either way, you get a mess. Depending on the food, it can be a really big mess.

He's teething right now and in an attempt to soothe him and occupy his fussiness a little while trying to cut those difficult top teeth, I looked in the pantry last night for something to give him that would feel good on his gums. Enter the Animal Cracker. (Yes, I know...I read that article too about the hidden trans fat, and I did pause before I gave it to him. But in the end, I still gave it to him - sanity ruled, sorry!)

He eagerly took the cracker and like most everything these days, put it right into his mouth. Then took it out. Put it back in...repeat this about a hundred times and three animal crackers later. This is what you get:

First it's that all-too-innocent look - "Who? Me? What did I do?" Do you see the pieces of the animal cracker laying off to the side? Those were the rejects. Trust me, they're not nearly as solid as they appear to me...they were more...mushy. Fun. Want a close up on that face?

And just in case you think that it's not that bad, the outfit was saved...here's what it looked like after the animal crackers got combined with his dinner of corn casserole and pears...

Ah, solid food...such a fun and CLEAN stage! LOL!

Worst Phone Call…Ever

2011-02-10T19:00:00.000-06:00

Parents, you know the one that I’m talking about. It’s the school calling you, and they’re calling to tell you that your precious child got hurt at school. Who cares that the “precious child” is 13 years old? To a mother/father, it doesn’t matter I tell you. Whether it’s the day care calling to tell me that Jax is running a fever during the middle of my work day, or a call about one of our older children, it’s alarming all the same.

Today the call was about Tanner. And we’re furious about what happened. I’ll fill you in on the deets and then you can be all furious with us, and you’ll need to comment below and tell me that you’re also furious so that I don’t lose my own steam…ok?

Yesterday another cold front hit our area…temperatures dropped out of the 60’s (don’t hate us) and the winter coats went back on when the sleet started falling from the sky during the early morning hours. Life went on, nothing came to a screeching halt (except the blasted Austin traffic!) and everyone went on their merry way. Staying in the 20’s all day though, leads one to believe that it’s also going to remain cold all night. Let me be the first one to clue you in: freezing temperatures and automatic sprinkler systems do NOT mix well together. Think oil and water and you’ve got the right idea.

So Tanner goes to school this morning, and being in Athletics, shows up at the gym first thing in the morning. His basketball coach, in all of his infinite wisdom, decides that for practice today the boys should go outside and run some laps around the track. Right now you should already be scratching your head a little bit…I’m just letting you know.

Before going outside, several of the 12 and 13 year-old boys who have more common sense than the Coach apparently has question the Coach about whether it’s too cold to be running outside, but he tells them to do the laps like he said and to stop questioning him. (Bright idea…real bright idea, she says in a voice that literally drips sarcasm like a leaky sieve.)

And the idea is made even brighter by the discovery that the maintenance man/men did not turn off the automatic sprinklers that water the inside or middle of the track last night…the water came on and doused the entire track area…and then froze. At this point, I don’t know if the boys tried to talk to the Coach again or not. If it were me and I’d already been told once not to question him, I probably wouldn’t have mentioned it, but that’s just me.

I’ll go ahead and jump to the middle of the story for you since no, this story does NOT end when three boys fell and got hurt. Yep, you read that right. Three kids fell down on the icy track that they were forced to run on outside in the 20 degree weather…thanks, Coach! And obviously I wouldn’t be telling this story if one of the boys wasn’t ours. Tanner fell down on the icy track, landed on his face and got not only a mild concussion, but a split eyelid. And let me give you enough further gory details to say that his eyelid split in a spot where they can’t stitch it back up because of the proximity to his eye.
So the immediate effect/consequence in Tanner’s world is that #1 he is rushed to the hospital and #2 gets to go home for the day with some good drugs and a cool eye patch. The lingering effects? He’s out of the rest of basketball season…and potentially might not be healed enough to play baseball this summer. Which he has played every.single.year since T-ball. Bummer.

And another lasting repercussion? Hospital/Doctor bills. Yes, we have insurance on Tanner, and hopefully most of this will all be covered under it (once the deductible has been met)…but is it our responsibility to pay for this? I think not. Now, before I go any further, let me say with all clarity that I am not one of those people who thinks that everyone needs to sue everyone else for the wrong that was done to them. I also don’t believe that you should get rich off of a big corporation or company when something happens to you. I don’t believe that at all.

But I do believe in doing the right thing. And in this case, the school is clearly responsible/liable for their Coach’s actions. He sent the kids out in bad weather. He didn’t check the area he sent them to – making sure that it was a safe place for them to be going. His decision. This wasn’t Tanner goofing off, slipping and falling on his own whim. He was following the orders that a teacher gave him when he got hurt. In my opinion, the school is clearly in the wrong here.

Yet, despite all evidence to the contrary, when Tanner’s mom called the school to ask if they were footing the hospital bill she was told that “they don’t do that.” We told her to call a lawyer. We also advised her that although she doesn’t need to seek/expect a financial windfall for what’s happened to her son, she should at least be compensated for the medical bills. What if he has damage to his eye? A good check-up wasn’t really possible with the lid being so damaged right now, but what if? Then he might be out of sports period, not just sitting out for a month or two. To a 13 year-old boy, being told that you can’t play sports might as well be a death sentence…that’s all that they care about! Or maybe I should say that all that this boy cares about.

Either way, we’re really upset by the school’s response of this not being “their fault.” If not the school, then who’s fault is it? Clearly 30 boys didn’t decide on their own to put on their gym shorts and go run a mile outside when it was sleeting the day before…if it had been snowing, then maybe I could see the interest of a snow ball fight or something. That’s not the case here. The Coach gave a bad order, the kids followed it, and several kids were hurt. And now the school wants to take the stance that they’re not responsible? I don’t think so!

Now it’s your turn to chime in…what do you think about this? Are we over-reacting? Do you think the school should cover these three boys’ medical bills? Or are we just becoming part of an insane growth in society (that we personally loathe) where everyone sues everyone else for the smallest thing?

That Little "S*&t!"

2011-02-10T08:00:00.001-06:00

Now, before I go off and offend anyone's sensibilities, let me first print out a disclaimer. In Texas (and maybe other parts of the South) the term "little shit" is used almost like an endearment. You say it with a little bit of softness and laughter in your voice...like a nick name. Kinda like when you call a really good girlfriend a bitch. You say it with love, laughter and respect...for the most part. And sometimes there's a little frustration thrown in for good measure. But either way, it's not really meant as a bad thing...especially when you're referring to your children.

But let's be honest...they can be little shits sometimes. And Jax was a big one last night. Let me tell you about it...

It really started last Friday. In case you missed the news flash, we've been fighting ear infections for almost a month around these parts. And the Friday before last, we ran our last fever...until this past Friday. That night, Jax was waking up more than normal...as in, after midnight it was every 30-45 minutes more than normal. And that's a lot. I just kept giving him his pacifier and trying to unwrap his snuggle wrap and all of my normal tricks, none of which were really working. At 2am, I gave up and brought him into our bed and that's when I won the Mother of the Year award for the 48th time...he was hot with fever. Burning up with heat. I dosed him with meds and we fell into a somewhat fitful sleep. I was sure that it was his ears again.

But the next day, he was fine. I talked with Brent about taking him to the doctor to get his ears checked, and we both decided that we would just wait for Monday to roll around. (We had a two-week follow-up appt aready scheduled.) During the day, he was fine. At night, he was a handful. Restless, tossing and turning his head and running a low fever at night.

This continued for FOUR nights...and that's when I reached my limit. I typically handle the nighttime stuff since Jax prefers me at night and it's usually not this bad. But after four nights in a row of little to no sleep, I needed a night off. And like the great husband that he is, Brent stepped right up and told me to take a whole Tylenol PM and to sleep in the other room. He gave me the best present ever...a good night's sleep.

Of course, by the time that it came around, I was willing to take half of the night shift, if he needed my help and I instructed him to wake me up around 2-3am. That's when Jax normally wakes up to eat and he typically won't take a bottle from Brent at night. (I don't know how Brent arranged that with him...but I'd love to know the secret!) I went off to bed as instructed and slept like the dead until around 3:15am.

I woke up then, knowing that I would hear a cry sometime soon. I remained in a half awake, half asleep state for about 30 minutes and then realized how much time had passed. The thought of him sleeping through a feeding was just too strange for me, so I came all the way awake and went to check on him. Obviously he had woken up at some point during the night and wanted to be unwrapped from his Snuggle wrap and laid on his tummy. He was sleeping peacefully, and Dad was snoring in the bed across the room. I made my way back to the upstairs couch, close enough to hear him cry out and far enough away to fall back asleep.

Except that I couldn't really sleep for wondering when the heck he was gonna wake up. I mean, I kid you not...it's been every 30-45 minutes for FOUR looooong nights...and the first night that Brent takes a shift the kid is sleeping like a log??? You've got to be kidding me! I laid awake, dozing off every once in a while, but still checking my phone for the time until I gave up in frustration around 5:30am. At that point, there was only one thought running around in my head...

"That little shit!"

He would choose this night of all nights to sleep through the night for the first time! The one night that I have off and he had a chance to show Dad what the nighttimes are like for me and he sleeps, well...like a baby. Once again, that little shit.

Even though I say that, y'all know that I've got all of my fingers and toes crossed and I'm praying like heck that it happens again tonight. He slept from about 8:30pm to 5:50am and took a bottle and went right back to sleep...that would be heaven if it became a regular thing. Seriously.

And if he doesn't do it again? Well, he'll still be a little shit...but for different reasons. Just remember, he's my little shit...which makes a world of difference and I love him to pieces. Oh, and if he doesn't sleep through the night tonight with me? I'm putting Brent on permanent nighttime duty! LOL!

Six Months…(and Two Weeks)

2011-02-09T08:00:00.026-06:00

I know that I’m late…I won’t apologize. I’m not really sorry. Just kidding, I am sorry, but I doubt that many of you (other than my own mother) really care if I post this on time or not! Not to be hateful or anything, I’m just saying.

This month passed by in a blur of sickness, doctor’s visits and more doctor’s visits…and here I was thinking that things would slow down after the holidays! Who was I kidding? Myself, apparently. Since I’m already late enough, let’s get right to it!

Stats – Weight/Height, etc: I blame the lateness on this post on my inability to remember the official stats from the doctor’s office…but really, that’s not a good excuse. And now, don't you know, I can't find the blasted sheet! I know that his weight was 17 lbs. 2 oz., but couldn't even guess on the height and head measurements. Rats! But I do know that although our actual stats changed, our overall percentages did not change – we’re still middle of the road, right where we need to be until you get to our honkin’ huge head! (Yep, still at 95th percentile on that one!) People keep assuring me that his head isn’t that big. I keep telling people that they need to learn to lie better. If you’re not a good liar (like me) then you just shouldn’t attempt to do it (also like me…most of the time!).

Bedtime: 7:30-8:00…yes, I’m trying to push it back a little bit earlier. But to be honest (see above about my bad lying skills) we start our bedtime routine at this time, not actually put him down for the night. Our bedtime routine includes bath time, getting dressed in our jammies (with lots of tickles and laughs from mom and dad), bedtime bottle and then his breathing treatment (for now). All of that starts sometime between 7:30 and 8:00 and takes about 30-45 minutes. This is starting to take longer as Jax becomes more and more enamored with the bath time part of the routine…which is why it got moved up a bit on the schedule.

“Wake Up!” time: Jax still wakes up around 6:30am on most days. On weekends, I have discovered that if I immediately give him a small bottle (4 oz) then I can get another hour to hour and a half of sleep out of him…that’s if he doesn’t poop right away upon awakening. If that happens, all bets are off! He’s still his happiest right after waking up in the morning…all grins and giggles for this guy!

Naps: We’re down to three naps a day…which can last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, or longer if I’m really, really, super-duper lucky. Usually two of the naps are on the shorter side, and then one of them will be longer. I like having the longer nap in the evenings during the week, since that’s when I’m trying to get dinner ready or eat my own dinner…but Jax doesn’t always cooperate with me. One time this month, during the height of his sickness, he slept for almost two hours in his crib…I checked on him repeatedly that second hour…just to make sure he was still breathing. Two hour naps are definitely NOT the norm around here!

Bottles: We can’t seem to move up from 6 ounce bottles, so we’re staying right there for now since giving him more in a bottle is just a waste of money as he won't drink it. Every once in a while, he is dropping one of the day time bottles, but it’s so sporadic that I don’t count it yet. Right now our schedule is something close to 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm and 2-3am. Yes, we’re hanging onto that last nighttime feeding with all that we’ve got!

Meals/Solids: Jax started taking some solid foods at day care this month…I just marked fruits and veggies for them to try only, no pasta or breads. I figured that since I knew that he would take those foods in baby food form, I was safe letting them try to give it to him in small, mashed up bites. So far, he’s not that interested in doing anything with it other than playing with it and making a mess…but the day care wanted to try it and I was willing to let them. I mean, it’s not me cleaning that mess up, right?

At home, he’s still just taking baby food and formula, but I’m going to transition him to Stage 2 foods as soon as we finish the Stage 1 foods that are on our pantry shelf…I’m pretty sure that he’s ready for a little thicker food. He’s gotten the hang of eating in the high chair and readily opens his mouth (like a little birdie) to be fed. He still takes 2 Tbsp of cereal mixed with fruit and juice in the mornings…and we introduced puffs and yogurt melt-aways as snacks this past month.

New Foods: Oops! Jumped the gun, didn’t I? Oh well…I already said that he’s starting to take some truly solid foods. And Brent gave him his first French fry the other night “just to see”…once again, he played with it more than anything. He might have gotten a little piece of it in his mouth, but I seriously doubt it.

Developmental Milestones and “Firsts”: Jax can completely sit on his own now! This is the biggest change for us, and opens up a whole new door on toys and such.

He can easily sit for 10-15 minutes at a time entertaining himself with toys within his reach…allowing us time to do important things like: use the bathroom, sweep the floor, run the vacuum, fold some laundry or play a hand of solitaire on our phones... you know, important stuff! After about 10 minutes, he prefers to have someone sitting close by…and this is where the older kids come in handy! Jax is still totally enamored with big brother and sister…they’re his favorite "toy!"

Even though he can sit on his own now, he will still topple over if he gets too excited about something. Like when he does his “arm dancing” thing…or if he decides that he would like to try to eat his foot while sitting. Luckily, we’ve learned the hard way to leave a blanket behind him “just in case” and the bumps from falling over are a bit easier to handle and soothe!

Since he’s sitting so well, we’re starting to spend more time with him in the bath tub out of his infant sling…actually sitting in the tub (with our hands always close by) and he’s learning how to splash the water. He doesn’t do it on his own yet, but he will start splashing once you show him it's done. Think arm dancing in the tub…which is why it’s important for a hand to always be close by. It’s also a good idea to lower the water level just a bit once he comes out of the sling…just useful tips that we’ve discovered the hard way!

Jax’s babbling continues on…and on and on. He can out-babble any baby - I’ll put him up to the challenge any day of the week. And if he thinks that he might lose? He’ll just up the volume a little bit, if you don’t mind. Heck, he’ll do it even if you mind. Like when he’s telling you something really important to him and you talk over his babble, effectively ignoring the baby speak…watch out, cover your ears, it’s gonna get loud! I told Brent not to complain about this new trick, as it was likely Brent who taught him to do that. He denied it, but only until I reminded him of how he handles Jax's crying in the car...yep, you guessed it, he turns the radio up. I suppose Jax thinks that if it works to make him be quiet, maybe turning up his own babble volume will work to quiet us down? LOL!

Brent swears that he’s saying “Mama” these days, but I don’t count it yet. He only says it when he cries and it’s just a repeated sound…NOT the real thing.

Favorite Toys: Jax’s favorite toy right now is his Exer-saucer. Our favorite toy is also the Exer-saucer.

When he’s not sitting, he makes little effort towards crawling – he just wants to stand. And once he stands, he wants to bounce. Which gets tiring after a while, but might be the only form of exercise that I get on some days! Enter the bouncing Exer-saucer. Can I just say "Life Saver" and leave it at that?

He also enjoys anything that he can knock over…the stacking rings, stackable blocks, or anything that Mommy is trying to work on.

His second favorite toy? Anything that he can chew on. This list should include: toys, clothes, hands, other people’s fingers, Mom and Dad’s shirts, and if they would just stretch a little bit more...his own feet. He puts everything into his mouth and drools through about 2-3 bibs/outfits per day. Teeth have to be coming soon…or else we might drown!

Like I said earlier, this month was more challenging than some due to the pesky, never-ending ear infections that we were plagued with. And I use the word “we” most appropriately – maybe Brent and I didn’t have the actual ear ache that Jax had to deal with, but dealing with a baby with an ear ache? Yeah, we all suffered. Every single one of us!

Even dealing with all of that, there were still high points during the month…good times to cherish and remember forever as this stationary stage passes so quickly. Jax is getting such a little personality, and it’s starting to show in little bits and pieces…in the words of Jenna: “It’s cool now because he does more than just eat, sleep, cry and poop.”

Here’s to a healthier seventh month in our future…